Shreyas Iyer "Officially Joins" Captaincy Race: Indian Cricket's Influential Decision-Maker After IPL Show
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Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final, scoring 604 runs and showcasing his captaincy skills. Though they lost to RCB, his leadership potential is recognized, positioning him as a future contender for India's captaincy.
Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings with great success at the IPL 2025 in his first year with the franchise. For the first-time since 2014, the franchise made it to the final and lost the title clash to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six runs. Iyer was PBKS' leading scorer with a tally of 604 in 17 matches. He scored six half-centuries and his 87* in the Qualifier 1 against Mumbai Indians will be talked about for a long time. He almost single-handedly rescued PBKS against MI and took them over the line.
Now, according to a report in The Indian Express, quoting 'one of Indian cricket's influential decision-makers,' the rise of Iyer as a great captain is being considered biggest takeaway from the IPL 2025.
"Right now he just plays ODIs but after this IPL we can't keep him out of T20 internationals and even Tests. Plus he also has now officially joined the white-ball captaincy race,' the official said.
Currently, Rohit Sharma is the ODI captain while Suryakumar Yadav is the T20I captain. Shreyas Iyer has not been picked for India's Test series against England.
He was a Knight in the shining armour for Kolkata in 2024 and in 2025, became the King who almost led Punjab to the crown. Shreyas Iyer's IPL season didn't end with the trophy but he well and truly established himself as the leader that India might need in the not-so-distant future.
Iyer became the third skipper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to captain an IPL franchise to three finals and he did it with three different teams in the last five years. That's some range for a player, who astoundingly did not make the Indian Test team for the tour of England this month.
KKR let him go last year as they didn't consider his demand for a higher retention fee to be just. Their loss was, needless to say, a massive gain for Punjab Kings.
They got an astute captain and a passionate leader of the men in the 30-year-old, who knows a thing or two about handling the highs and lows of a career with grace.
The jury is still out on Shubman Gill, who will face a trial by fire as captain in England. But after June 3, 2025, Shreyas Santosh Iyer should be rated as one of the best captains in Indian cricket.
There is a Dhoni-like cool quotient, a Virat Kohli -like aggressive streak when the situation demands and also a ''Bindaas Mumbaikar in him just like his illustrious India teammate Rohit Sharma.
"Job is still half done, we have to win it next year," Iyer's confidence shone through the disappointment of missing it this time by a mere six runs in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night.
That he is not in the squad for England has surprised none more than his Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting.
"I actually was gutted...but he's accepted that really well and he's moved on," Ponting said on The ICC Review of Iyer, prior to the IPL Playoffs.
"He's just got that real hunger in his eyes to do well every time that he plays for us here and wants to win games of cricket and wants to evolve and develop into the best leader and captain that he can be."
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