"India has had only two great finishers" - Yograj Singh's stunning remark as he criticizes Shreyas Iyer again after RCB vs PBKS IPL 2025 final

Former Indian cricketer Yograj Singh slammed Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer for failing to seal the deal in the IPL 2025 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Ahmedabad on June 3. Chasing 191 for winning their maiden IPL title, PBKS were in pole position at 72/2 in the ninth over when Iyer walked out to bat.

However, the PBKS skipper fell cheaply for just one off two deliveries to set the side back in the run chase. They ultimately finished on 184/7 in 20 overs, losing by six runs.

Iyer's failure to seal the deal prompted Yograj to bring up his son, Yuvraj Singh, and former captain MS Dhoni, as the only finishers in Indian cricket.

While speaking to IANS after the IPL 2025 final, he said (via NDTV Sports):

"There are many players, but India has had only two great finishers - MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. The two have won India 92 matches from losing positions. Yuvraj has a 98 per cent winning rate. He has won 72 games single-handedly. On the contrary (to Shreyas Iyer), Virat Kohli made 40 (43) runs. So there is just one culprit in Punjab's defeat, and that is their captain."

Yograj continued:

"There is only one criminal from the match, and that is the captain of Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer. No one is bigger than cricket. When you start thinking of yourself as big, that's when such happens."

The defeat meant PBKS remained titleless in the IPL after 18 seasons despite playing in the playoffs for the first time since 2014. It also prevented Iyer from joining Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as the only captains to win back-to-back IPL titles.

Shreyas Iyer enjoyed sensational IPL 2025 campaign for PBKS despite final letdown

Despite failing in the final, Shreyas Iyer completed an impressive maiden season with PBKS in IPL 2025. The 30-year-old scored over 600 runs (604) for the first time in his IPL career, averaging 50.33 at a strike rate of 175.07 in 17 outings.

Under Iyer, Punjab finished at the top of the points table in the league stage, winning nine out of 14 matches. The right-hander played one of the knocks of the tournament with a breathtaking 87* off 41 deliveries in Qualifier 2 against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI).

His brilliance helped his side chase down a daunting 204 and advance to the final against RCB.