"Committing Suicide": Sunil Gavaskar Slams PBKS Star For Failure vs RCB In IPL 2025 Qualifier 1

It was a pathetic batting performance from Punjab Kings during the Qualifier 1 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 in Mullanpur on Thursday. After getting an invitation to bat first by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Shreyas Iyer-led side was bundled out for a paltry 101 runs as none of its batters could take his innings deep. Playing rash shots cost PBKS big and the side ended up losing the game by 8 wickets. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar showed no mercy while commenting on the batting of PBKS, especially Marcus Stoinis.

For the Iyer-led team, Stoinis was the top-scorer with 26 runs off 17 balls but he too became a victim of poor shot selection. Stoinis fell as the last recognised batter for PBKS and Gavaskar didn't mince his words while slamming him. RCB spinner Suyash Sharma bowled a googly and Stoinis tried to play a horrible slog-sweep and missed the ball completely. The ball rattled his stumps.

"This is unbelievable. This is committing suicide, isn't it?" said Gavaskar said on-air while reacting to the dismissal.

Same was the story of other PBKS batters as well. They too did wild swinging and ended up losing their wickets.

PBKS captain Shreyas was quite honest in admitting that the batters failed in the game, which led to the side's downfall.

"We've got to work on our batting, especially on this wicket. In all the games we have played here, there has been some variable bounce. We can't give such reasons because we are professionals at the end of the day, and we have to bat according to the situation, and we have to live up to it. We have lost the battle but not the war," he said after the game.

"Not a day to forget, but got to go back to the drawing board. We lost a lot of wickets (in the first innings). There's a lot to go back and study on. I am not doubting on my decisions to be honest. Whatever we did in terms of planning, outside of the ground, or whatever (planning) we did, I think it was on point. Just that we couldn't execute it on the field, can't even blame the bowlers, as it was a low total to defend," the PBKS captain added.

PBKS will get another chance to make it to the final as they will face the winner of the Eliminator game between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians that is set to take place on Friday.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket Marcus Stoinis Suyash Sharma Sunil Gavaskar Shreyas Iyer Royal Challengers Bengaluru Punjab Kings IPL 2025