The value of every run in cricket is the same, until it isn't. After a point, it is less hard-earned currency and more arithmetic operation. Framing the equation is the only luxury the batter gets. It's one Shreyas Iyer was afforded on 97, on debut as Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain, with his team on 220 with an over to go: 97 + 3 = 100. Straightforward.
But Iyer wasn't in the mood for all that. Instead, he left it to Shashank Singh - his batting partner who was the team's designated finisher - and sent what we can think of as a message for everyone in the team: "Shashank, don't be like 'mera sau honewala hain (I'm close to a hundred), just play your shots and finish it well'." As it turned out, the equation that was set in motion was 220 + 23 = 243.
The run economy was in dire straits on an Ahmedabad flatty. But those 23 runs that came from Shashank off Gujarat Titans' (GT) Mohammed Siraj in the final over were telling in this IPL 2025 match. PBKS won by 11 runs, yes, but - back to the math - they had 27 to defend in the final over of the chase.
"Getting those extra 40 runs, especially after 200, because we had set [that as] a benchmark, that on this wicket, where the ball is also stopping a bit and turning, helping the spinners, that was our mindset," Iyer, the Player of the Match, said on the broadcast afterwards. "But with the dew coming in, we knew that the scenario would be changing. Thankfully, we were able to execute and the way he [Shashank] performed was simply brilliant."
The relativity in the value of runs is often a curse for teams batting first. It's not until the end of the game that they can tell if they made enough or too few (even if it's one run).
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have meddled with that order by attacking throughout the innings. However, that is somewhat contingent on batting conditions and the Impact Player rule. When it all clicks, wickets are incidental. For PBKS, it became that when Iyer went out to bat in the fourth over and nailed a "confidence-boosting" on-drive off Kagiso Rabada, followed by a flicked six in a 14-run over.
Yet, Rabada was brought back for another over in the powerplay - wickets might be incidental at times, but early wickets are substantial. So, from a bowling team's point of view, there's good reason to exhaust three of the four overs of the strike bowler early rather than save them for later, when they might encounter set batters.
Rabada's first ball of that sixth over was a jaffa - in the channel, rising from a length - that Iyer nearly nicked off. He was beaten again, on the flick, by a 146kph full delivery next ball, and survived what turned out to be a bad review for lbw. Call it a dodgy bet but if one of those two had led to Iyer's wicket, then keeping Rabada on would have been as good a captaincy decision as a batter sacrificing strike in the last over.
Such variability is why No. 3s anchor the innings, if they can see off good bowlers and play themselves in, they have the chance to bat long and hold an innings together. But when Iyer got back on strike for the last ball of the over, the earlier events didn't matter. Short third was in, deep point was back, and the shortish ball was glided through the gap.
Iyer had wanted to mark the No. 3 spot for the season, and PBKS want to establish themselves as a force in a way they have struggled to previously. So why an anchor when you can zoom away like a speedboat?
Some of the risks that Iyer took didn't come with insurance. That flicked six off Rabada in the powerplay went over deep square-leg, the only outfielder on the leg-side boundary. He was nearly caught on the same boundary in the 17th over, but Rabada stepped on the boundary cushion with ball in hand.
However, it was in the takedown of R Sai Kishore, who had 2 for 3 after two overs, that Iyer's bravado was on full display. PBKS had slipped to 108 for 4 in 12 overs after a 73-run powerplay, and there was need for consolidation but also the risk of stagnation. So Iyer made room first ball and went inside-out over long-off, and the heave two balls later was off the bottom of the bat, yet the ball sailed over long-on.
Iyer struck 35 off 12 short and short-of-length deliveries, his strike rate was above 180 against every bowler by the end of it, and he was - as Ravi Shastri said on air - "batting like a three-million-dollar man". It's too early to say if PBKS have hit the jackpot with the INR 26.75 crore auction purchase, but their captain looks willing to put his money where his mouth is, with his eyes on the prize from day one.