Shreyas Iyer, who ended the 10 -year title drought of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last year, missed winning the trophy for Punjab Kings (KKR) this time … that too by a very modest margin. But he has established himself as a captain that Team India may have needed in future. Although
He has not received a place in the Indian Test team for the tour of England this month.

Abstinence like Dhoni and aggressive attitude like Kohli

In the final of the IPL on Tuesday, Iyer did not see any lack of confidence despite the defeat by 6 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Iyer’s captain, with his understanding, showed a mixture of a mixture of ‘Bindas Mumbaikar’ like his senior Rohit Sharma from Mumbai with his understanding and aggressive attitude like Virat Kohli.

Our Kshema Secure Hands of the Match ➡️ Shreyas Iyer pic.twitter.com/m9cXlV7ges

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— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) June 4, 2025

KKR allowed him to go last year as the franchise did not find their demand for big retention fees (the amount of maintained in the team). This disadvantage of KKR proved to be a major advantage for Punjab Kings. The Punjab team found a sensible and passionate captain as a 30 -year -old player. A captain who knows how to handle career ups and downs.

On the other hand, Shubman Gill’s captaincy has not been tested yet. He will have to face a big challenge as captain in England. But after 3 June 2025, Shreyas Iyer should be considered one of the best captains of Indian cricket.

Ponting’s statement- he wants to win every match

For England, his absence in the team was also very surprising for Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting. Ponting said in ‘ICC Review’ before the IPL playoffs, ‘I was really sad, but he has accepted it very well and he has moved forward.’ He said, ‘There is a desire to perform well in his eyes every time. He wants to win every match and develop into a best captain.

This statement of the two -time World Cup winning captain matters a lot. Ponting did not just say this to support his franchise captain. There is a very old relationship between these two. In 2017, when Gautam Gambhir decided to leave the captaincy in the middle season, Iyer became the captain of the Delhi IPL franchise on the advice of Ponting. Under his captaincy, Delhi’s franchise reached the IPL final in 2020, which is the biggest achievement of this team so far.

After taking a break due to injury, the Capitals (DC) decided that they could not take the risk of losing Rishabh Pant keeping them in the team. Pant was the emerging stars of that time and had ambitions for captaincy.

Iyer did not get much credit for the KKR title

Iyer then became the captain of KKR and the team became the champion in 2024. Iyer, however, did not get much credit for this title as he batted in lower order according to the needs of the team. Gambhir, the then mentor of the Team and the current coach of the Indian team, got more credit for strategic understanding. Nobody paid much attention to the natural decision and understanding of the captain.

However, if a player reaches the finals in two consecutive seasons with different management, different ideologies and changing list of players while leading two different franchise teams, his strategic talent cannot be ignored for a long time.

… Captain Iyer understands the circumstances of the match

Iyer finally got his right in this season. This also made it clear that his grip on the circumstances of the match and strategy was unmatched. He knew that in the pitches that lack bounce, Kyle would prove to be effective in Zamison’s ‘back of the length’ balls and it proved to be masterstroke.

Against Gujarat Titans (GT), he asked Vaishak Vijay Kumar to repeatedly put wide yorker and proved to be effective. In Qualifier-2, against Mumbai Indians, he asked him to reduce the speed of his balls with a copy ball and it also fit.

He has shown that after Rohit Sharma retired from ODIs, he can be considered a strong candidate for the captaincy of the team. He is the best batsman in 50 overs format and when it comes to T20 or Test, he soon has the ability to make a place in the team of both formats.

Under the supervision of Abhishek Nair, the mental aspect of his batting has been strengthened, while childhood coach Praveen Amre has worked hard to improve his game while staying away from the Indian team. A close friend of Iyer said, “He usually takes a bat in his hand and practices the shot like a match and imagining the ball.”

‘We have lost the fight, not war.’ This statement went viral

While Iyer was seen provoking against the player who did not give his 100 percent percent in the match, he was seen provoking against Shashank Singh’s run out), while he was also seen inspiring him to play his natural stroke by placing his hand on the shoulder of a youth like Priyansh Arya.

When Punjab Kings lost to RCB in the first qualifier, they said, ‘We have lost the fight, not war.’ His statement went viral on social media and he also proved it right by playing an unbeaten 87 against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier-2.

Input: PTI