Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer provided a coy update on his right-hand injury sustained during their IPL 2026 opener against Gujarat Titans (GT) in New Chandigarh on Tuesday (March 31), saying it felt "nice" but that he did not want to "jinx it".

The incident, occurring in the 12th over when batting partner Cooper Connolly’s straight drive struck Iyer, resulted in immediate pain, requiring icing and creating doubt over his availability for the next fixture against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 3.

“All I can say, it's nice. It's the same as it was before. I don't want to jinx anything. I just want to stay positive and hopefully everything comes out right,” Shreyas said at the post-match presentation.

PBKS began their campaign with a tense three-wicket victory. Debutant Connolly slammed an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls to anchor the chase after a middle-order collapse, overhauling the target of 163 with five deliveries to spare.

The captain was effusive in praise of Connolly’s match-winning knock. “Some of the shots that he played, it was surreal to watch. It was unbelievable. The back foot six off Rashid, one of the best bowlers in the IPL, to hit him so clearly and neatly, it was simply phenomenal,” Iyer stated.

“(On the mini-collapse) Honestly speaking, I was focused on my hand inside, icing it and then suddenly we lost two wickets back-to-back. These things happen in the IPL and you have to remain calm and composed in such situations. So the message was pretty simple. Just take the game to the end and Cooper was there. He was pretty much set. And he's got a great awareness as a player. I've seen him in the past as well, playing for Australia. He's got a great mindset and hopefully he continues with the same form,” he added.

Earlier, Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/34) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/28) starred with the ball as the Kings restricted the Titans to 162/6 after captain Shreyas Iyer opted to bowl.

Reflecting on his team’s bowling performance, Iyer said: “I think after the third over, we realized that the wicket is playing a bit slow. Arshdeep instantly came and said that it's holding a bit. So we decided that we'll try to make the ball old as quickly as possible and just bowl slow and stick to the wicket and it really helped us.”

“(On Vyshak) He's carrying forward the form that he performed in the final last season. And he's a big match player. I've seen the confidence that he possesses, and it is phenomenal to see him come in the big game and deliver straight in match one. So it's a great positive. I feel that we need to carry this momentum going forward in the tournament, and hopefully things pan out pretty well,” he remarked.

Shreyas Iyer was surprised to see aggressive field setting, specifically a short leg, when he walked out to bat.

“Yeah, I was actually. I just told Shubman that that was something that I've never experienced before, but it's good. It's good to see captains becoming aggressive,” he concluded.