India's star batter Shreyas Iyer celebrated his 30th birthday on December 6. Currently leading Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Iyer is focused on making a strong comeback to the national team through consistent domestic performances.
When Shreyas Iyer revealed how IPL changed his life upside down
A highly successful IPL captain, Iyer has consistently been in demand. His IPL journey began with Delhi Capitals in 2015, where he impressed with a remarkable 439 runs in his debut season. Despite a less successful 2016, he bounced back strongly in 2017, scoring 338 runs and earning his India debut later that year. Iyer's breakthrough IPL season dramatically altered his life. People who had previously ignored him now sought his attention.
During an interview back in 2015, Iyer had revealed how IPL completely changed his life.
"Before the IPL, the girls who I used to message didn't care to reply. After the IPL, the same girls started messaging me every day. After that, I stopped talking to them," the 30-year-old had earlier said.
Iyer was a key player for Delhi Capitals from 2015 to 2021. He was retained by the franchise before the 2018 mega-auction and took over the captaincy from Gautam Gambhir. Under his leadership, DC reached the playoffs in 2019 and their first-ever IPL final in 2020.
An injury sidelined Iyer for the first half of the 2021 season, and Rishabh Pant took over the captaincy. In the 2022 mega-auction, Iyer joined Kolkata Knight Riders. He led KKR to their first IPL title in 10 years in 2024. However, a surprising turn of events saw him move to Punjab Kings for a massive fee of Rs 26.75 crore, where he is expected to lead the team in the upcoming season.
Talking about PBKS' other signings, they secured the services of 23 players in recently-held IPL 2025 mega auction. The highlight of their bidding was India's batting star Iyer, who became the second most expensive player in the history of IPL, after Rishabh Pant.
The franchise also retained Arshdeep Singh through the Right-to-Match (RTM) option and added key players like leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell to their squad.
PBKS' full squad for IPL 2025:
Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh (Rs. 18 crore), Shreyas Iyer (Rs. 26.75 crore), Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs. 18 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs. 11 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs. 4.20 crore), Nehal Wadhera (Rs. 4.20 crore), Harpreet Brar (Rs. 1.50 crore), Vishnu Vinod (Rs. 95 lakh), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Rs. 1.80 crore), Yash Thakur (Rs. 1.60 crore), Marco Jansen (Rs. 7 crore), Josh Inglis (Rs. 2.60 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs. 2 crore), Azmatullah Omarzai (Rs. 2.40 crore), Harnoor Pannu (Rs. 30 lakh), Kuldeep Sen (Rs. 80 lakh), Priyansh Arya (Rs. 3.80 crore), Aaron Hardie (Rs. 1.25 crore), Musheer Khan (Rs. 30 lakh), Suryansh Shedge (Rs. 30 lakh), Xavier Bartlett (Rs. 80 lakh), Pyla Avinash (Rs. 30 lakh), Pravin Dubey (Rs. 30 lakh).