"Shreyas Iyer ke aage 2 aur Shreyas Iyer ke peeche 2" - Aakash Chopra on PBKS' strength ahead of IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 vs RCB

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked the Punjab Kings' (PBKS) batting as their strength heading into their IPL 2025 Qualifier 1 clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He noted that the uncapped Indian opening pair of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh and the middle order duo of Nehal Wadehra and Shashank Singh have impressed for the franchise this season.

PBKS will lock horns with RCB in the first playoff game of IPL 2025 in Mullanpur on Thursday, May 29. The Shreyas Iyer-led side has predominantly relied on their Indian batters this season.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener chose the Punjab Kings' batting might as their positive ahead of IPL 2025 Qualifier 1.

"Punjab's strength is their batting. In Punjab's batting, Shreyas Iyer ke aage do aur Shreyas Iyer ke peeche do, the two uncapped players each they have kept on either side of him. They were playing like that during the entire season. Josh Inglis has also been put there now," he said (2:00).

However, Chopra wondered whether PBKS would look to bat first if they win the toss.

"This team's strength is their batting and the way they have batted. The question will be there for sure whether they would like to bat first. They couldn't score a lot of runs the last time they batted first against this team. Josh Hazlewood had dismissed Shreyas Iyer brilliantly, and the innings never got going," he elaborated.

The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that Shreyas opted to field first in their final IPL 2025 league game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Jaipur on May 26.

"However, will they do that here because they have changed their tact now? When they played their last match against Mumbai at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, they decided to bowl first after winning the toss. So that will definitely be worth watching," Chopra observed.

Shreyas Iyer (514) is PBKS' highest run-getter in IPL 2025. He is followed by Prabhsimran Singh (499), Priyansh Arya (424), Nehal Wadehra (298) and Shashank Singh (284) in the franchise's run-scoring charts.

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"Trust an Australian in a knockout situation" - Aakash Chopra on Josh Inglis ahead of PBKS vs RCB IPL 2025 Qualifier 1

Josh Inglis played a match-winning knock in PBKS' final league game against MI. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that all Punjab Kings batters are in form, highlighting that Josh Inglis could rise to the occasion in a crunch game.

"Batting is this team's strength. It includes the uncapped players, Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, who has come in form, and Jos Inglis as well. Josh Inglis is an interesting player. He changes his stance. He bends against spin and stands upright against fast bowlers, and he is an Australian. So trust an Australian in a knockout situation," he said (2:50).

However, the analyst wondered whether the uncapped PBKS batters would be able to play as freely as they did in the IPL 2025 league phase.

"A thing that will be worth watching would be whether they will be able to play as fearlessly. Priyansh Arya batted extremely well in the last match. He scored a fifty against Mumbai, and this season has been very good, but this is the first qualifier. So how the uncapped players are able to express themselves, that is going to be a big, big question," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Punjab Kings have adopted an aggressive batting approach thus far this season. However, he questioned whether everyone would hit in Qualifier 1 if they get to bat first.