India and Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer, the second-most expensive player in the player auction, has been appointed captain by Punjab Kings for IPL 2025.
The announcement was made on Sunday night on reality TV show Big Boss, where Iyer appeared as a guest alongside PBKS team-mates Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh.
"I am honored that the team has reposed its faith in me. I am looking forward to working again with coach [Ricky] Ponting," Iyer was quoted as saying in a release. "The team looks strong, with a great mix of potential and proven performers. I hope to repay the faith shown by the management to deliver our maiden title."
"Shreyas has a great mind for the game. His proven capabilities as captain will enable the team to deliver," said PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting. "Shreyas has a great mind for the game. His proven capabilities as captain will enable the team to deliver. I have enjoyed my time with Iyer in the past in IPL, and I look forward to working with him again. With his leadership and the talent in the squad, I am excited about the seasons ahead."
Iyer, 30, is one of only eight captains to have won the IPL, which he did by guiding Kolkata Knight Riders, whom he led from 2022 to 2024, to the title last year. PBKS, who had the strongest purse at the mega auction for IPL 2025, outbid Delhi Capitals, another franchise on the lookout for a captain, to bag Iyer for INR 26.75 crore (USD 3.18 million approx). For a short while, till the Lucknow Super Giants stepped in and upped the bar, Iyer was the priciest bought player in the history of the IPL. Lucknow Super Giants had picked Rishabh Pant at INR 27 crore that is USD 3.21 mn approx.
PBKS becomes Iyer third franchise in IPL after DC at whom he makes his debut during 2015 and KKR. Halfway through IPL 2018, DC promoted Iyer as captain and qualified for the playoffs each of the last three years and finished as runners-up in 2020. He also took Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season and ended fourth among the tournament's top run-scorers with 345 runs from nine innings, including a hundred, at a strike rate of 188.52 and over 49 per game.
Iyer will be reunited with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who has been appointed the PBKS head coach for four years. The duo had a successful stint as coach-captain for the Delhi Capitals and Ponting credited the same factor for PBKS aggressively bidding for Iyer in the auction.
Ponting also dropped strong hints that he might make Iyer the skipper after the mega auction. "I wanted to work with Shreyas," Ponting said in his talk to Star Sports post-auction. "I have worked with him before, and he is a great guy and a great player. He will be a great leader for our team if we decide to go that way, which I'm pretty sure we probably will. And obviously, he was the championship-winning captain last year. So there are lots of great things about bringing him to Punjab."
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