Shreyas Iyer : The silent assassin who looking to break open selection doors.

Shardul Thakur bowls a length ball in the 11th over of the innings of the Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday evening. Shreyas Iyer plays a riveting uppish drive and sends it into the stands. He makes a mistake again in the 16th over, Iyer sends it further… way further ensuring that a handful of Punjab have their share of cheer amidst a sea of blue. 

Shreyas Iyer, who was trusted by the Punjab management last year after his successful stint with KKR in 2024, has been nothing short of flawless as a captain. That glorious batswing, the accuracy in the field and his off field partnership with Aussie great Ricky Pointing, his second after DC in 2019/20 has yielded unbelievable results. 

In 2025, they were as terrific as RCB were throughout their campaign and two magnificent run chases against a top quality Mumbai bowling line up was a testament to the fact. Their batting has grown from strength to strength and with Cooper Connoly replacing Josh Inglis, the Punjab Kings look title favourites once again. The bowling too, with off days apart, have been hunting in packs with wickets at regular intervals.

But at the forefront is the CAPTAIN. Whether it is THAT innings against MI in qualifier 2 last year or the catch he pulled off against the same opposition on the Thursday evening, Shreyas Iyer, who has somehow been sidelined by the selectors has been proving his white ball worth time and again in the shortest format and with SKY being an underperformer with the bat this season, an Indian captaincy in T20’s beckons.

As the captain of the Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer has a terrific record with 14 wins in 22 games and like the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024 and the Delhi Capitals in 2020, he took them to the final after 10 seasons last year and even though a rare failure happened in yesterday’s game, his astute leadership has been one of the key reasons of the rise of a franchise that has been in the news for more off the field drama than on the field, ensuring that KKR and DC keep regretting their decision each time they witness PEAK captiancy.