The newly appointed captain of the Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer, has set his sights on winning the maiden title for the franchise after being awarded captaincy for the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025). Iyer was revealed as the captain of the side by Bollywood actor Salman Khan on the television show Big Boss, where Iyer, Shashank Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal were present as guests.
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On the episode, Iyer also unveiled the new jersey for Punjab for the upcoming season of the T20 extravaganza. In his first statement after being handed the captaincy, Iyer thanked the team management for showing their faith in him and set his sights on winning the first ever IPL trophy for Punjab.
“I am honoured that the team has reposed its faith in me. I hope to repay the faith shown by the management to deliver our maiden title,” said Iyer in a statement shared by Punjab Kings on their X handle.
In a video message, Iyer reflected on the team’s poor performances in the past and vowed to perform at their best level possible in the upcoming season. He also praised the coaches and the management for building a strong squad during the mega auction.
“We know what the team has been through in the past few years, but this time we’ll put in our full efforts to see to it that we perform at our best level possible. I think the coaches and the management, they have done a brilliant job at the auction table. They’ve ticked almost all the boxes, right. We’ve got a great combination of senior and junior players coming in,” said Iyer in a video released by Punjab Kings social media handles.
Further ahead, Iyer also expressed excitement about re-uniting with the head coach Ricky Ponting, under whom he played in the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the past.
“So, there would be a lot of experience and great moments we would be sharing with each other. Hoping to have a fantastic season with Ricky being the coach, I’ve worked with him in the past and yeah, looking forward for the ball to get rolling,” he added.
Pressure on Iyer to emulate KKR’s success in Punjab
Punjab broke the bank to have Iyer onboard during the IPL 2025 mega auction as they shelled out a whopping Rs 26.75 Crore to have him in their squad. They faced stiff competition from Iyer’s old teams, namely Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) as the three franchises got into an intense bidding war to sign the India star.
Eventually, Punjab won the bid and were delighted to have Iyer on their roster. In the upcoming season, Iyer will be expected to emulate his 2024 season’s heroics for Punjab as he led KKR to their third IPL title in the previous season.