Punjab Kings (PBKS) are set to announce their captain for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on January 12 on Bigg Boss 18. Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh have been shown in the promo of the popular reality show's weekend episode.
Iyer who was roped in for a whopping Rs 26.75 crore is the obvious choice for the captaincy role. He led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title after a decade. Chahal was picked for Rs 18 crore whereas uncapped batter Shashank Singh was retained for Rs 5.5 crore.
Iyer's first job under head coach Ricky Ponting will be to take PBKS to IPL playoffs after a 10-year hiatus. Also, PBKS are yet to win their maiden title. They reached the IPL 2014 final but were beaten by Gautam Gambhir-led KKR.
"I wanted to work with Shreyas," Ponting told Star Sports after picking Iyer in the IPL mega auction. "I've worked with him before and he is a great guy and a great player. He'll be a great leader for our team if we decide to go that way, which I'm pretty sure we probably will. And obviously, he was the championship-winning captain last year. So there are lots of great things about bringing him to Punjab."
PBKS used the Right to Match (RTM) card for Rs 18 crore and got the services of Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for Rs 11 crore. Their other overseas picks are Marco Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Lockie Ferguson, Aaron Hardie and Xavier Bartlett.
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).