Stronger And Hungrier: Ambati Rayudu Backs Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings For IPL 2025 Playoffs

Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu believes that Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer can be extremely motivated to carry out nicely in opposition to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Iyer led KKR to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title final season however was not retained by the franchise forward of IPL 2025.

Subsequently, PBKS picked up Iyer on the IPL public sale 2025 and appointed him as their captain. Rayudu sees Punjab Kings as a stronger group this season and believes they’re critical contenders for the playoffs.

“He’ll carry nice reminiscences of the bottom and KKR, having received the IPL with them final season. There will be a bit of fireside within the belly–he wasn’t retained, and now he is captaining Punjab. I believe he’ll be targeted and motivated. Punjab seems to be the stronger aspect this season, and I see them as critical contenders for the playoffs,” mentioned JioStar skilled Ambati Rayudu whereas talking on Match Centre Stay on JioHotstar.

Ajinkya Rahane’s Kolkata Knight Riders will compete in opposition to Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings within the Indian Premier League 2025 Match No. 44 on the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday. KKR can be aiming to get better from consecutive defeats and return to profitable methods.

The host, Kolkata, is at present positioned seventh on the factors desk with solely three wins from eight matches, whereas Punjab sits firmly in fifth place with 5 wins out of eight matches.

KKR requires 5 victories of their remaining six matches to have an opportunity at qualifying for the highest 4. For PBKS, reaching three wins of their remaining six video games could be adequate for Iyer’s Punjab.

Gujarat Titans, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Mumbai Indians occupy the highest 4 positions within the factors desk.

GT, DC, and RCB all have 12 factors to their title, however Gujarat and Delhi have performed one match fewer than RCB. A victory for Punjab on Saturday would elevate them above MI to fourth place, equal on factors with GT, DC, and RCB.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya, Mayank Markande.

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Praveen Dubey, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash.