Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer’s sister Shresta wasn’t happy to see trolls targeting her brother after the franchise’s defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Match 37. Iyer’s PBKS had beaten RCB at the M Chinnaswamy stadium a few days ago but suffered a defeat in the reverse fixture on April 20. Iyer couldn’t contribute much with the bat in the game as Punjab crumbled under the pressure posed by RCB. The situation gave PBKS fans an opportunity to target Iyer.
“It’s honestly disappointing to see people stoop so low as to blame the family for simply showing up to support. Whether we’re physically present or cheering from afar, our support for the team is unwavering. To those pointing fingers at me, your shallow mindset is not only laughable, it’s embarrassing. I’ve been there for countless matches, India’s and others and most of them ended in victory. But I guess when you’re busy trolling from behind a screen, facts don’t matter,” wrote Shresta on her Instagram story.
Shreyas Iyer’s sister, Shresta Iyer, shared an Instagram story about being abused by Virat Kohli fans. Shubman Gill’s sister, Rohit Sharma’s daughter, and KL Rahul’s wife were also abused by Virat Kohli fans, Shreyas Iyer’s sister has now faced the same. Shameful stuffs pic.twitter.com/8kLtk7hTcA
— (@SG77Era) April 20, 2025
As for the match, Devdutt Padikkal blossomed under the able guidance of peerless Virat Kohli as Royal Challengers Bengaluru exacted a sweet revenge on Punjab Kings keeping their all-away-win record intact with an easy seven-wicket victory. Having lost the rain-curtailed home match to Punjab Kings on Friday, RCB turned the tables within less than 48 hours, chasing down a target of 158 without much ado in just 18.5 overs to enter the top four in the points table.
Southpaw Padikkal (61 off 35 balls), who is an effortless elegance when on song, scored his first IPL half-century in 22 innings while chases like these have been a cakewalk for someone of Kohli’s caliber as he played second fiddle for the better part of his innings.
He finished with a flourish, remaining unbeaten on 73 off 54 balls. The duo added 103 in 11.3 overs by playing textbook cricketing strokes with minimal risk.
It was Kohli, who started off with a signature pull off Arshdeep Singh where the rolling of wrists kept the ball down and a bowler’s back-drive off Xavier Bartlett to signal his intentions.
He got an able partner in Padikkal, who hit fours and sixes in equal measure.
Against spinners, he would use the depth of the crease to rock back and running between the wickets was fantastic as on one occasion, Kohli pushed him to sprint for four runs.
Kohli farmed the strike with ease and when needed, got a boundary like once when he rode the bounce to back-cut Jansen towards backward point.
Padikkal was finally gone trying to got for a fifth six off left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar’s bowling but by then RCB had all but pocketed the game.
Once he completed his 50 off 42 balls, Kohli slashed Arshdeep deliberately behind point for a boundary. But undoubtedly the best shot was an inside out straight six off Yuzvendra Chahal.
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