Shreyas Iyer is among the very few IPL captains to lead three different teams. What makes him unique is that he has taken all three teams – Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings into the playoffs.Shreyas Iyer is the only player to win his very first match as captain with three different teams. In his debut match as an IPL captain, his team (DC) beat KKR, while his first match as KKR captain saw him victorious over CSK, and his first outing as PBKS captain in 2025 ended in a win against the Gujarat Titans.
Delhi Capitals have played in just one IPL final (in 2020), and it came under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership. Shreyas Iyer remains the only captain to have achieved this so far. Shreyas Iyer is the only player to score a fifty on his captaincy debut for two different IPL teams; for DC, he smashed 93* runs against KKR and 97 runs against the Gujarat Titans as PBKS captain. On Shreyas Iyer’s KKR debut as skipper, he also stayed unbeaten with 20* against CSK. Across all three debuts, he has never been dismissed in his debut captaincy match.
In 2024, Shreyas Iyer guided KKR to the final, which they went on to win. Earlier, in 2020, he led Delhi Capitals to their first-ever final. This makes him the only captain to take two different teams to the IPL final.
A strong 600-run season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Punjab Kings wasn’t enough for Shreyas Iyer to make the cut for the 15-member Asia Cup squad. The right-handed batter, 30, has been in phenomenal form in the white-ball formats of late, and this led to fans believing that Shreyas Iyer would be a sure-shot pick in the squad for the eight-team tournament. However, Ajit Agarkar and the rest of the committee opted not to have him in the reserves.
Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers believes there is no cricketing reason for leaving Shreyas Iyer out of the team. However, he was quick to point out that something is going on behind the scenes, and potentially, that might be the reason the right-handed batter finds it difficult to make the team.
Shreyas Iyer has had a smashing season. Shreyas Iyer first led Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win in the 2024-25 edition while he captained Punjab Kings to the IPL final in the latest edition. This was the first time in 11 years that the Punjab Kings managed to make the final of the IPL. The 30-year-old was even a vital cog in India’s Champions Trophy triumph earlier this year. After the triumph, captain Rohit Sharma also reserved some special praise for the middle-order batter, saying how he was instrumental in bailing the team out repeatedly.
Ab De Villiers is stunned to see Shreyas Iyer’s omission from Asia Cup 2025
Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad has sparked a massive social media storm, with fans and some experts expressing their displeasure over the call. Iyer has raised his stocks in the shortest format of the game over the last couple of year.
In 2024, Shreyas Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title, before taking Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final earlier this year, where they lost to RCB. Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers is the latest to share his views on the Indian selectors’ call to leave Iyer out.
De Villiers was quick to speculate that there might be something going on behind the scenes, as he believes that Shreyas Iyer’s snub can’t be based on his performances.
“It is tough, guys. I was just going through the squad. I was thinking, where can we fit Shreyas in, because I’ve seen all the headlines and some fans being upset. I think Shreyas will be the most upset because he’s played some really good cricket over the last few years. He’s matured a lot. He has shown a lot of leadership qualities, but who knows what is going on behind closed doors? No one. Not me. Not you guys,” de Villiers said during a live chat on X (formerly Twitter).
Recalling his captaincy days, de Villiers revealed that in similar selection situations, he would often go for a player whom he thought could get the job done for him.
“Maybe not even Shreyas knows. But there might be a few things that have taken place over the years that have determined why he’s not the flavour of the month for a certain tournament. He’s a quality player. He’ll be in my team more often than not.
But sometimes, and I’m not talking about Shreyas now, but sometimes, thinking about when I was captaining, if there’s a 50-50 call between two players, I would always lean towards the guy that I feel offers more from a team perspective off the field,” he added.
“When it’s 50-50 on the field, you have to start looking at other areas, like does he add value in the team room? Does he have a smile on his face? Does he uplift some of the other players around him? Or is he sort of draining energy from the squad?
Maybe it has something to do with that. I’m just honestly taking a complete guess. Of course, it is weird to me, a quality player like that, not making the starting squad for Team India, especially with the leadership qualities he’s bringing. Maybe it will be too much of a clash with him there,” said de Villiers.
The former Proteas captain also suggested that Iyer’s inclusion could have led to an ego clash, while highlighting the latter’s recent heroics as captain in the IPL and the domestic circuit.
“Maybe there are too many leaders there, too many captains. I have no idea, to be honest. I was just trying to explain to you what I would think. If there’s a 50-50 call, you would always lean towards the guy that you feel will bring the best out in other players,” said de Villiers.
De Villiers concluded by saying that the truth behind Iyer’s absence from the team will eventually come out one day.
“So, a team player kind of call. That’s my best guess. I’m not saying it’s true. Make up your own mind. Actually, ask more questions about it and let me know what you think. Maybe the truth will come out one day, and we’ll know exactly why Shreyas is struggling to get into Team India starting line-ups or squads at least,” he concluded.
Shreyas Iyer, 30, had scored 604 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 175 and an average of 50.33 in IPL 2025. He even captained Punjab Kings to a runners-up finish in the competition, just after captaining his previous franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, to the IPL 2024 trophy. He will be next seen in action when he turns out for West Zone in the 2025/26 domestic season-opening Duleep Trophy, starting on August 28 at the BCCI CoE grounds in Bengaluru.
West Zone, led by India’s seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, will play their first match of the Duleep Trophy in the semi-final scheduled for September 4, with their opponents to be the winner of the quarter-final clash between Central Zone and North East Zone. India will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for September 14, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
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