Two months have passed since Shreyas Iyer instructed his batting partner, Shashank Singh, to forget about Iyer's approaching hundred and hit every ball for a boundary. It was towards the end of Punjab Kings' first innings in their opening game of this year's IPL, against Gujarat Titans.
Shashank seems amazed even now as he narrates it. When Mohammed Siraj started the final over, Iyer was the non-striker, three runs short of his maiden IPL century. Shashank hit a first-ball four. The next ball, full-ish on his legs, he chipped towards midwicket and took off for what he thought was a single, until Iyer, leading Kings for the first time, screamed for a two.
"It was a risky two but an easy one," Shashank says. "Most players, non-strikers, would have opted for the easy one and [especially when] someone is playing on 97. IPL hundreds are not easy.
"Shreyas pushed me for two. He was like, "Bhaag, bhaag, doosra bhaag." [Run, run, run for two.] If you see the video, while turning back for the second, I double-check on the scoreboard - if this guy is on 97, right!?"
Iyer did not face a delivery that over, off which Shashank smacked 23 runs. Punjab won by 11 runs. The captain had set an example for Shashank and the rest of the Punjab squad, not just with the match-winning knock but his sense of team goals that would be inspirational for the side, who made the IPL playoffs for the first time in 11 years, and last Monday sealed a top-two position.
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