New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer is the only cricketer to lead three franchises into Indian Premier League finals, a feather in his cap that he proud to flaunt too.
Under him, Delhi Capitals reached the title round in 2020, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders’ triumph in 2024 and Punjab Kings’ loss to Royal Challengers in the recently-concluded 2025 edition.
As batter, Iyer scored 604 runs with six fifties to led by example as Punjab emerged as one of the better performing teams after years of underachievement.
Punjab brought in Iyer for a whopping Rs 36.75 crore and appointed him as captain while roping in Ricky Ponting as coach. The captain-coach partnership had taken Delhi to the final in 2020 when they went down to Mumbai Indians.
They excelled in their new environment at Punjab too, forging a closely-knit unit that had only one aim of lifting the trophy.
“It (captaincy) brings in a lot of maturity and responsibility. You are always expected to perform and contribute in the best way possible for the team because whenever there is a hurdle or some kind of adversity you face as a team, they always come to the captain,” Iyer said on Sunday, as quoted by PTI.
“I think I have got a lot of experience as I have been captaining since I was 22. I have enjoyed the moments and also embraced it. I love the fact to come out and lead.”
The 30-year-old Iyer said he yearns to test himself as a player in high-pressure situations.
“I just try to get into my zone and I try to do things which are there in front of me. I try to stay focused as much as possible, just stay in the present, embrace the situation, embrace the crowd because sometimes they get very electrifying and pass on the energy to you. So I keep telling myself that I want the crowd to cheer my name, and that brings that kind of motivation,” he said.
Under him, Delhi Capitals reached the IPL final in 2020, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders’ triumph in 2024 and Punjab Kings’ loss to Royal Challengers in the title round in the recently-concluded 2025 edition. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
