‘My goal is to lift the trophy’- Shreyas Iyer shares vision for IPL 2025

Shreyas Iyer, the recently hired captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS), has stated his ambition to win the team’s cup. Prior to the 2025 IPL, Iyer, who guided the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL victory in 2024, was let go by the team.

Shreyas Iyer, while speaking to JioHotstar, said he is ready to lead his new IPL team Punjab Kings to glory. He revealed his desire to win it for his new squad. He claimed that Punjab Kings had not yet won an IPL championship and that he wanted to do so for them as soon as he was selected by PBKS. Additionally, he wanted to give the supporters something to celebrate because he thought it would be historic if the Punjab Kings won the IPL 2025 trophy.

“From the moment I was picked in the auction, my desire has been clear, Punjab Kings haven’t won the IPL yet, and my goal is to lift the trophy for them. That would be a historic achievement, and I want to make the fans happy and give them a reason to celebrate. A Punjabi celebration at the end of the season would be something special!”

In the 2024 season, Iyer guided the Delhi Capitals to the finals and the Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL championship in a decade. When the Punjab Kings kick off their IPL 2025 campaign against the Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium on March 25, he will want to do the same for his new squad.

Shreyas Iyer on regional language commentary: “We do enjoy it.”

Iyer continued to discuss the importance of regional language commentary, which we all listen to, and he also shared his message in Hindi, stating that when he first started playing cricket, he would converse in his own tongue in the dressing room. He added, “Mumbai also has different names for shots, and people have their own names for shots in different places.”

“We do enjoy it. When we started playing cricket, we used to talk in our languages in the dressing room. In Mumbai, we even have different names for shots. In different regions, people have their way of describing how a shot was played. When we hear it for the first time, it’s a bit of a culture shock–like, wow, these are the words used in cricket! As you progress to the international level, you get to learn about these different expressions.” He continued.

Iyer has amassed 3,127 runs at an average of 32.23 and a strike rate of 127.47 since making his debut in 2015, including 21 half-centuries. His greatest score is 96. His debut season (2015) with the Delhi Capitals saw him win the ‘Emerging Player’ award as he scored 439 runs at an average of 33.77 in 14 games, including four fifties.

Iyer made his debut as captain of the Delhi squad in 2018, leading them to the 2020 championship game before they were defeated by the Mumbai Indians (MI). After being moved to KKR in 2022, he won the 2024 season while receiving tutoring from Gautam Gambhir.