Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer (PTI photo)

captain of punjab kings Shreyas Iyer Priyansh was impressed after Arya and cooper connolly On Sunday, he displayed brilliant batting and led his team to victory over Lucknow Super Giants by 54 runs. Arya, one of the country’s hottest T20 batting talents along with Vaibhav Suryavanshi, scored 93 runs from 37 balls, while Connolly, a highly rated Australian Next Generation batsman, scored 87 runs from 45 balls. Their 182-run partnership in just 80 balls laid the foundation for PBKS to post a massive score of 254 runs for 7 wickets. In reply, despite struggling for 43 runs, LSG could only score 200 runs for 5 wickets. Rishabh Pant and from 40 Michelle Marsh. Iyer praised the intentions and mentality of both of them. He described the performance as “extraordinary” and said that “some of the shots were surprising”, highlighting the courage and composure shown at the crease. He also revealed a light-hearted challenge within the group, saying he was “talking to Cooper and Priyansh” about who would hit the most sixes this season, adding that both were “up for it”. The PBKS captain stressed that the team environment gives complete freedom to the young batsmen. “When you let them be, go out and express themselves, they perform well,” he said, adding that he doesn’t dictate how they structure their innings as they follow their routines and procedures. Iyer also credited the support system around the team, mentioning Ricky Ponting’s involvement before the game while he was involved with inputs. On the bowling group, he said PBKS have a largely international-quality attack and cited their execution level as the key to victory, while admitting that the team gets “a lot of satisfaction” from reading and adapting to the wicket. The win underlined PBKS’ growing confidence this season, based on offensive intent and clarity in roles, as they look to build on a strong campaign in 2025 after finishing as runners-up.