Preity Zinta greets Shreyas Iyer with a hug after PBKS vs RR IPL 2025 match [Watch]

Punjab Kings (PBKS) co-owner Preity Zinta greeted captain Shreyas Iyer with a hug after the IPL 2025 match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday, April 5. The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur hosted the game. RR beat the home team comfortably by 50 runs, handing them their first defeat in IPL 2025.

The Royals batted first after losing the toss and set a daunting target of 206 for the Kings on the back of decent contributions from Yashasvi Jaiswal (67), Riyan Parag (43*), and Sanju Samson (38). Jofra Archer (3/25), Sandeep Sharma (2/21), and Maheesh Theekshana (2/26) then bowled magnificently to restrict PBKS to 155 for nine in the second innings, to help RR notch up a net run-rate boosting victory.

It was also the Punjab team's first loss under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy. After the match, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta interacted with Shreyas Iyer and a few other players from both teams. The Punjab franchise offered a glimpse of it by sharing a video on their X handle.

You can watch the video below:

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"I am glad it happened at the start of the season"- PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer after 50-run loss vs RR in IPL 2025

At the post-match presentation, Shreyas Iyer opined that he thought 180-185 would have been a decent score to chase on the surface, but they ended up conceding a few more runs with the ball. Reflecting on the defeat, he said:

"To be honest I thought we would be considering about 180-185 which would have been great to chase. We conceded a few more runs but I am glad it happened at the start of the season. It was a decent pitch to bat, it was stopping a bit but I felt we could have stitched a few more partnerships rather than going ultra-aggressive. Obviously as you see there wasn't any dew, we can't be blaming on that."

Iyer further added:

"We have to go back to the drawing board and work out what didn't go our way and analyse especially why we lost two wickets in quick succession. Wadhera has been phenomenal, he took some time and analysed the situation. This is the third match, it's just the start of the tournament and I am glad it happened early on in IPL 2025. We have to see the videos and come back stronger."

PBKS will square off against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their next IPL 2025 match on Tuesday (April 8) at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.