IPL 2025: Not Shreyas Iyer! GT coach Parthiv Patel credits former RCB player for defeat against PBKS

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Gujarat Titans had a disappointing outing in their IPL 2025 opener as they lost to Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi stadium.

In a high-scoring encounter, PBKS edged out the Titans by 11 runs. Batting first, PBKS amassed a formidable 243/5, with captain Shreyas Iyer leading the charge with an unbeaten 97 off 42 balls, including nine sixes and five fours. Despite approaching a century, Iyer selflessly encouraged his partner, Shashank Singh, to continue attacking in the final over. Shashank responded with a blistering 44 not out from 16 balls.

In pursuit of 244, GT's innings was anchored by Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, both scoring fifties to keep their team in contention. However, despite their valiant efforts, GT fell short, finishing at 232/5.

Although GT managed to score big despite the defeat, their assistant coach Parthiv Patel pointed out the real reason behind their downfall in the first match. Shreyas Iyer was brilliant with the bat for Punjab but Parthiv feels it was three overs of bowling which changed the course of the match.

In the pre-match press conference ahead of the Mumbai match, Parthiv credited Punjab pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak for his spell, which changed the dynamics of their run chase. In a match which saw runs scored at a brisk speed, Vyshak conceded 28 runs in his three overs and put a brake in the onslaught.

Punjab Kings came up with the plans of bowling outside the off-stump by Yorkers. But having said that, I thought Vyshak came in and nailed all those Yorkers. We saw there were three overs where I thought they were right on top with Vyashak bowling those two overs, and Arshdeep came in and bowled those four Yorkers to Joss Butler. Usually, you don't see that happening too often," Parthiv said.

"You do get one over here and there. But credit to Punjab Kings bowlers, how they bowled and they executed their plans under pressure," he added.

Former RCB player Vijaykumar Vyshak was roped in by PBKS in the mega auction and has shown his worth in the very first match. The 28-year-old Karnataka boy will be aiming to continue his upsurge with his new franchise.

Gujarat, on the other hand, have an opportunity to bounce back as they face Mumbai Indians on Saturday (March 29).