Shreyas Iyer and the Kolkata Knight Riders are a unique case when studied together. Despite leading them to the IPL title after 10 years last year, KKR released Iyer, one of India’s top white-ball cricketers. Punjab Kings were more than happy to offer Iyer a whopping ₹26.75 crore in the mega auctions. But the story didn’t end there. Iyer, in his all swag, didn’t mince words (he rarely does), announced to the world that he didn’t get enough credit for winning the title at KKR last year.
Shreyas Iyer (in red) with KKR CEO Venky Mysore
Mentor Gautam Gambhir, who is now the India head coach, walked away with most of the limelight, with young players crediting him for a turnaround.
A year later, KKR found themselves eliminated from the IPL even before their last two league games, while Iyer led PBKS to their first-ever IPL playoffs in 11 years. Not for the first time, Iyer changed a team’s fortunes in the IPL after taking over as their captain. He did that at the Delhi Capitals, repeated the same at KKR and now continues it at PBKS.
As Iyer was gearing up for his second consecutive IPL trophy as captain, KKR sparked an online storm with a social media post on the anniversary of their third IPL title.
On 26 May 2024, KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final to lift their third IPL trophy. To celebrate the occasion exactly a year later, the franchise put up a graphical post that included noted members of their squad, except former captain Iyer. While a close study reveals that KKR picked only those players who are still a part of their squad, like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Vaun Chakaravarthy, and Harshit Rana, to name a few, fans were extremely displeased by the commission of Iyer.
Iyer responds by taking PBKS on top of the IPL points table
A few hours later, Iyer made sure PBKS finished the league stage in the top two. He thanked head coach Ricky Ponting for giving him the “freedom to go out and express myself” as the side sealed a spot in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2025 with a convincing seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians.
“The camaraderie has been there for the past few years between Ricky and I, he gives me a lot of freedom. He lets me be decisive on the field, all these things have culminated in a great way,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Every individual stepped up at the right time. Starting from game one, we’ve been in the mindset of wanting to win despite the situation. We’ve had players putting their hands up when we were in the dumps. Kudos to the support staff and management, too.
“Ricky has been fantastic with player management, it’s important for me to get trust too. That happened with the wins early on. Had conversations with them too. You have to maintain good relationships throughout. I feel the dressing room has been top notch throughout,” he added.