Shreyas Iyer has done it again. With 514 runs at a strike rate of 171.90, five half-centuries, and a top-two finish in the league stage, he’s carried Punjab Kings (PBKS) to their best season since 2014. This isn’t just a performance—this is a statement.
For fans who’ve seen PBKS stumble year after year, this season feels different. Under Shreyas, there’s clarity, calm—and for once—results. Punjab are now just one win away from the IPL final, something most fans didn’t even dare dream about two months ago.
But this rise isn’t just about one good season. It’s about redemption.
Just last year, Shreyas Iyer captained Kolkata Knight Riders to their first title in a decade. Yet the headlines and applause went to Gautam Gambhir—who wasn’t even the coach. KKR didn’t retain Shreyas. Instead, they splurged on Venkatesh Iyer.
So where did Shreyas go? To the bottom-ranked Punjab Kings, a team best known for hiring and firing captains like it’s musical chairs. This time, they brought in Ricky Ponting and a few Aussie imports. But the real gamechanger? Shreyas.
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Ponting knew it. “It’s pretty obvious I was keen to work with Shreyas,” he said after their win against Mumbai. “He’s a quality person. It’s what you need to form a culture.”
Culture doesn’t show on the scoreboard—but results do. PBKS have won 9 out of 14 games. They crushed Mumbai in Jaipur, with Shreyas scoring a calm, unbeaten 26 off 16. Not flashy, just enough. That’s leadership.
Despite leading Delhi to a final in 2020 and now PBKS to another, Shreyas Iyer isn’t even in the India A squad. The selectors stripped his contract earlier this year for skipping Ranji Trophy due to a serious back injury—something that was common knowledge.
The same Shreyas returned to the India side in March and scored a gritty 48 in the Champions Trophy final win against New Zealand. For someone so often overlooked, he keeps showing up when it matters.
Shreyas isn’t just scoring runs. He’s building a franchise’s identity. With a strike rate second only to Nicholas Pooran among top batters this season, he’s attacking smart, not wild. He isn’t just playing the IPL—he’s reshaping it.
And yet, he’s not in conversations for India’s captaincy. How many captains have led three franchises to an IPL final by age 30?
In a league where players don’t choose their fate, Shreyas Iyer is rewriting his own. PBKS were the IPL’s laughingstock. Now, they’re the story. And the man behind it? The one who was never supposed to be here.
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