When Shreyas Iyer hammered Mumbai Indians for 26 runs in the penultimate over of Qualifier 2, an IPL final between two trophyless teams were confirmed. However, the Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) fairytale run in IPL 2025 ended in heartbreak as they fell short by six runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. For RCB, it was history made as they finally put an end to the IPL hoodoo after 17 long seasons. But it was a hard pill to swallow for PBKS as well, who lost another IPL final despite having a great team.
At the centre of Punjab’s fight was Shashank Singh, whose unbeaten 61 off just 30 deliveries almost turned the game on its head. With 29 runs needed off the final over, Shashank smashed Josh Hazlewood for 22 runs off the last four balls, but it wasn’t enough. He missed out on a juicy full toss on the first delivery and that was it. Despite hitting 3 sixes and a boundary in that over, Shashank was only doing a formality.
In an exclusive interview with CricTracker, the 33-year-old reflected on that gut-wrenching night and shared how emotions ran high inside the Punjab dressing room. He shared how he saw his mates and even owners in tears.
“There were players crying, owners disappointed” – Shashank Singh
“The team that wins, the focus is on that. It should be like that. They won, they’re happy. I don’t remember what was happening in the other team, what the fans were doing. At a certain point, it takes a lot of time to win. We were in the finals. It was one of the most difficult tournaments in the cricketing world,” Shashank said.
“In the finals, we were so close, and I was playing there. I could have been a match-winner. Obviously, I felt bad. I wasn’t alone. There were players in the dressing room. They were crying. Our owners were feeling bad. They were very disappointed. I saw their tears. It’s different from the media, the fans, the camera. It’s a personal loss. You can’t just say, we lost. It takes a lot of time.”
Shashank admitted that the heartbreak wasn’t something he could shake off quickly, even after returning to state cricket immediately after the final.
“I still remember, we had a match in the state league the next day. I thought it would get better. But I couldn’t get out of the final loss. I was talking to my sister. I told her, I’m not able to enjoy. The state league is something where you enjoy playing with your teammates. But in the IPL, we didn’t have a bad tournament. It was a good thing that we reached the finals. But that loss, it took a lot of time,” he revealed.
For Shashank, the IPL 2025 season was another chapter in his remarkable rise. After going unsold in 2023, he was picked by Punjab Kings in 2024 for ₹20 lakh and quickly made his mark with crucial finishes. He was the highest retention pick for ₹5.5 crore ahead of IPL 2025, and the Mumbai-born batter scored 704 runs across two seasons for PBKS, cementing his place as one of the side’s most reliable finishers.
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