Credit: X
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) will clash against each other in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 game to be held at the iconic Eden Gardens on April 26. India legend Sunil Gavaskar believes Shreyas Iyer’s presence in the Punjab Kings (PBKS) camp will cause ache to the home side as the 30-year-old was previously a part of Kolkata camp, who won their third trophy in 2024 under the right-handed batter’s captaincy. However, despite guiding Kolkata to the title success, he couldn’t make it to the franchise’s retained list. This year, he is the leader of the PBKS camp.
With the game between KKR and PBKS, Shreyas will return to Eden Gardens for the first time in IPL after parting ways with Knight Riders. Gavaskar feels Iyer will be enraged with the fact that the franchise didn’t retain him despite guiding the team to the title win and he can vent his anger out with his performance in the upcoming match. "He will be fired up. And if he had been, you know, I've been out of form, if they had not done well, then one could understand. But the captain of a winning team not being retained will hurt. No question about it, that will hurt," said Gavaskar on India Today.
PBKS scripted history when they met KKR at Eden Gardens in 2024
Back in 2024, when KKR and PBKS squared off against each other in Kolkata, the visiting side became the team to chase down the highest total in IPL history. Following a mammoth 262 runs, PBKS witnessed the batting heroics of Jonny Bairstow, who smashed an unbeaten 108 off 48 to help his team achieve the target in just 18.4 overs.
This year, Punjab again broke into the record books for the success against the same side. This time, Kings beat Knight Riders by 15 runs in Mullanpur and became the side to defend the lowest total of 111 runs in IPL history. PBKS will look to do wonders against KKR again at the iconic venue.
