Mumbai: Shreyas Iyer, the Punjab Kings captain was dejected and heartbroken less than 48 hours ago after his side lost by six runs to the Royal Challenger Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL final, and the SoBo Mumbai Falcons’ icon player was present for his his side on Thursday, June 5 in their second game in the ongoing T20 Mumbai League against the North Mumbai Panthers. However, surprisingly, Iyer wasn’t the captain. Iyer, who is the only captain to lead three teams to an IPL final, was playing under the 21-year-old, Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Raghuvanshi, who was part of the IPL-winning Kolkata Knight Riders side last year, led by Iyer, started his captaincy journey with the Falcons with a Super Over win against Arcs Andheri on Wednesday, June 4. Iyer, who joined the side on Thursday, played the clash in Navi Mumbai against the Panthers; however, he didn’t get to bat as the impact player Ishan Mulchandani and Harsh Aghav made a mockery of the 133-run target.
The Falcons won their second game on the trot while the Prithvi Shah-led Panthers remained on zero points after as many games, having lost their tournament opener to Bandra Blasters.
Iyer missed the opportunity of replicating MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma’s feat of becoming only the third captain to win the IPL title in back-to-back seasons, albeit with different teams. In his first season leading the Punjab Kings, Iyer led the franchise to their first playoff qualification in 11 years and also to the top of the table. The reunion of Iyer and Ponting at Kings revitalised the franchise, as despite having four uncapped batters in the top seven, the two-time finalists were one of the best batting outfits in the season.
Iyer also had his best-ever IPL season, scoring 604 runs while breaking the record for most sixes by a captain in one edition. His runs came at a strike rate of 174 and Iyer led the side from the front but faltered at the final hurdle as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who were also chasing their maiden title for 18 years, finally got their hands on the elusive trophy.
