IPL 2025: How Shreyas Iyer reignited fire in Yuzvendra Chahal's belly after slow start

Yuzvendra Chahal and Shreyas Iyer celebrate a wicket against RCB (IPL Photo)

Yuzvendra Chahal keeps getting better during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The Punjab Kings spinner is finally finding his rhythm and making the ball talk after a difficult start to the 18th edition of the marquee T20 event.

The leg-spinner took two wickets in the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, dismissing Jitesh Sharma and Rajat Patidar. Following Chahal's lackluster tournament debut, Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer has now disclosed his conversation with the spinner.

Chahal bowled defensive lengths in an attempt to be economical with his delivery, but his performance in the first five games was far from ideal. But he made a tremendous comeback against the Kolkata Knight Riders, taking four wickets and assisting PBKS in making history by defending the lowest IPL total ever (111).

The 34-year-old backed this effort by helping Punjab Kings limit RCB to 95/9 in 14 overs with a spell of 2/11 in 3 overs. Following the victory over RCB, Shreyas Iyer disclosed that he advised Chahal to have confidence in his skills and not adopt a "safe" strategy.

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"Personally, I had a chat with Chahal. I told him you are a match-winner, and you need to get us wickets as much as possible. You don't need to be safe in your approach, and he has got the capability of bouncing back," Shreyas told the host broadcaster after Punjab's five-wicket win. "That's what we appreciate of him as a leggie. Probably, he is the best bowler in the IPL so far," he added.

After defeating RCB by five wickets in a rain-shortened match, Punjab Kings are presently in second place in the IPL points table. Nehal Wadhera helped PBKS chase down 96 with five wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare by scoring an undefeated 33 runs off 19 balls with three fours and three sixes. In IPL 2025, this was RCB's third straight home defeat.