Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], March 29 (ANI): Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer's leadership, though proven, will face another test as they face a fearless Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) outfit at Mullanpur on Thursday, eyeing to move one step closer to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL)

Iyer's willow has yielded plenty of runs in this season and he has made a case for himself as perhaps the best captain-batter. He is the 10th-highest run-getter with 514 runs in 14 innings at an average of 51.40, a strike rate of 171.90, with five half-centuries and the best score of 97*.

The right-handed batter being the only captain to have led three different franchises to playoffs at least. He also has an IPL title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), won last year after some benchmark-lifting performances as a unit alongside mentor Gautam Gambhir.

In nine knockout matches in the IPL, Iyer has scored 214 runs at an average of 42.80, with a strike rate of 127.38. He has two half-centuries to his name, one each for Delhi Capitals (DC) and KKR.

However, this season, Iyer has had two poor outings against RCB, with scores of six and seven. He has not had a nice time at Mullanpur either, having managed scores of 10, 9, 0 and 6 in four appearances so far, totalling 25 runs.

In 16 matches against RCB in his IPL career, Iyer has scored 406 runs in 16 innings at an average of 27.06 and a strike rate of 120.83, with four half-centuries and the best score of 67. In his last 10 innings against RCB, he has made 270 runs at an average of 30.00, with three fifties.

Will Iyer overcome a poor run against RCB and at Mullanpur to produce a masterclass in Qualifier one?

Squads:

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Harpreet Brar, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett, Praveen Dubey, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Tim Seifert, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh, Blessing Muzarabani, Tim David, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh. (ANI)