A table-topping Punjab Kings (PBKS) got defeated by the fan-favorite Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 8 wickets in the Qualifier 1 clash of the Indian premier league (IPL) 2025. This defeat was mainly because of the collapse in the batting order of the Punjab batters.

Coming to bat first, Punjab Kings posted a mere total of 101 runs on the board. 8 of their batters failed to perform- as they got dismissed on a score of less than 10 runs. Prabhsimran Singh, Marcus Stoinis and Azmatullah Omarzai were the only three players who scored in double digits- with scored of 18, 26 and 18 respectively.

After the defeat, Shreyas Iyer came to the post-match presentation and stated that the match was not to forget, but to go back and work on basics in hopes to recover in the upcoming Qualifier 3 clash and reach the title deciding match. He said hat he is not doubting his decisions as all the planning that they did outside the field just could not be implemented.

'Not a day to forget, but got to go back to the drawing board. We lost a lot of wickets (in the first innings.) There's a lot to go back and study on. I am not doubting on my decisions to be honest. Whatever we did in terms of planning, outside of the ground whatever (planning) we did, I think it was on point.

Just that we couldn't execute it on the field,' Shreyas said at the post match presentation.

Shreyas then also stated how no one can blame the bowlers for not being able to defend such a low score. He also stated that they are not the ones to give excuses as they are professionals and that they have to bat according to the situation.

'Can't even blame the bowlers, as it was a low total to defend. We got to work on our batting especially on this wicket. In all the games we have played here there has been some variable bounce.

We can't give such reasons because we are professionals at the end of the day and we have to bat according to the situation and we have to live up to it. We have lost the battle, but not the war,' Shreyas said.

As Punjab Kings were the table toppers, even though they lost the first match of the Qualifier round, they still have a chance to redeem themselves. Now the Shreyas Iyer-led side are going to face the winning team of the Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Titans clash.

The winner of the MI vs GT clash will face PBKS as the Qualifier 3 match, and if Punjab Kings manage to win that match, they will face RCB once again for the final match of the IPL 2025.

However, if Punjab loses the Qualifier 3 match, they will be out of the tournament, and RCB will face the winner of that clash for the title deciding match.