New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) Former India cricketer Saba Karim heaped praise on Shreyas Iyer following his impressive half-century for Punjab Kings (PBKS) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 7 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Iyer played a key knock of 50 off 29 balls, showcasing his ability to control the innings and accelerate when needed. His performance played an important role in Punjab Kings chasing a target of 210 runs in 18.4 overs, breaching Chennai’s stronghold for the second consecutive time.
Karim feels that Iyer continues to be underrated despite his consistent performances.
"Today was one such example where he showed why he's so different from the other batters we've seen so far. Even in the T20 format, he looks so flawless; he has so much time. I think he's arguably the No. 1 batter against spin bowling, talking about white-ball cricket, including one-day and T20," Karim told ESPNCricinfo.
"And even against pace bowlers, since he has started to work on his square shots towards the on side, I think he has become a much better or a more rounded kind of a batter who's very difficult to contain," he added.
Karim also highlighted the improvement in Iyer’s approach and technique, which has helped him become more effective across conditions and against different types of bowling.
"He gets into such strong positions before he faces a delivery. Look at his trigger movement: he goes back, so the weight of his body goes from one leg to the other," Karim said. "Then the front leg opens up quite easily, and then he goes bang. So I think that is one area where he has worked very hard," he said.
"It also allows him to play the short delivery well. So he can go either on the front foot or transfer his weight a little bit, and smash it down the ground or over the square-leg or midwicket boundary," he added.
Iyer's T20 numbers have seen a sharp rise over the past two years. In 43 matches since IPL 2024, he has scored at a strike rate of 169.51. During this period, he made 351 runs for KKR in 2024 and followed it up by finishing as PBKS’ leading run-scorer with 604 runs in 2025.
Meanwhile, after beating CSK, the 2025 runners-up, Punjab Kings will face three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 6 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
--IANS
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