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Shreyas Iyer will captain Punjab Kings in the 2025 edition of the IPL, which is reportedly set to start on March 21. Iyer will become the first Indian cricketer to lead three IPL teams.
Shreyas Iyer will become first Indian player to captain three IPL teams. (Picture Credit: X/@PunjabKingsIPL and X/@ShreyasIyer15)
Star Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer on Sunday, January 12, was appointed as the new captain of Indian Premier League franchise Punjab Kings. The 30-year-old right-handed batter from Mumbai will lead the Preity Zinta-owned side in the 2025 edition of IPL, which is reportedly set to start on March 21. Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL 2024 title win, was signed by the Mohali-based franchise for Rs 26.75 crore on Day 1 of the IPL 2025 mega auction, which took place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25 last year.
Iyer will be the 17th player in 18 seasons to captain Punjab Kings in the world’s richest franchise cricket league. After being appointed as PBKS captain on Sunday, Iyer created history as he became the first Indian player to captain three IPL teams. Iyer has served as Delhi Capitals captain from the middle of the 2018 season to 2020 and KKR captain in IPL 2022 and 2024. Under his leadership, Delhi Capitals played in the final of the 2020 edition, and KKR won the title in 2024. He is the only captain in IPL history to play in the IPL final with two teams.
Players to lead 3 IPL teams
- Mahela Jayawardene – Kings XI Punjab (2010), Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011), Delhi Capitals (2012-2013)
- Steve Smith – Pune Warriors India (2012), Rising Pune Super Giants (2017), Rajasthan Royals (2014, 2019-2020)
- Shreyas Iyer – Delhi Capitals (2018-2020), Kolkata Knight Riders (2022, 2024), Punjab Kings (2025-)
Before Iyer, only two players—Mahela Jayawardene and Steve Smith—had served as captain of three IPL teams. While Jayawardene made his IPL captaincy debut for Kings XI Punjab before taking charge of Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Delhi Capitals, Smith captained Pune Warriors India, Rising Pune Super Giants, and Rajasthan Royals in the cash-rich league.
Iyer was announced as PBKS captain for the 2025 edition of IPL on Sunday by Bollywood actor Salman Khan during his appearance on the TV reality show Bigg Boss.
Iyer has won 38 out of 70 IPL matches played so far as captain, which makes him the sixth most successful captain in the cash-rich league’s history. MS Dhoni (133), Rohit Sharma (87), Gautam Gambhir (71), Virat Kohli (66), and David Warner (40) are the only five who have managed to win more IPL matches as captain than Iyer.
Most wins as captain in IPL
- MS Dhoni (CSK, RPSG) – 133
- Rohit Sharma (MI) – 87
- Gautam Gambhir (DC, KKR) – 71
- Virat Kohli (RCB) – 66
- David Warner (DC, SRH) – 40
- Shreyas Iyer (DC, KKR) – 38
Captains to win IPL
- MS Dhoni (CSK) – 5 (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023)
- Rohit Sharma (MI) – 5 (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020)
- Gautam Gambhir (KKR) – 2 (2012, 2014)
- Shane Warne (RR) – 1 (2008)
- Adam Gilchrist (HDC) – 1 (2009)
- David Warner (SRH) – 1 (2016)
- Hardik Pandya (GT) – 1 (2022)
- Shreyas Iyer (KKR) – 1 (2024)
Iyer, who is one of the five Indian players to win the IPL title as captain, will work with Ricky Ponting in the IPL this year. The former Australian captain was appointed as the head coach of the franchise in August last year.
