Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer may have failed to take his side to their first-ever IPL triumph, however his leadership skills in the tournament didn't go unnoticed. The 30-year-old lead the Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in the 2024 season and impressed everyone with his captaincy that time as well. According to a recent report by The Indian Express, these two impressive stints as skipper resulted in his name being thrown into India's captaincy race for the white-ball formats.
India will be touring Bangladesh after England Tests
With the Men in Blue set to tour Bangladesh for three ODIs and T20Is each in August after the conclusion of five-match Test series against England, Iyer could very well be handed the leadership duties for the one-day assignment.
To make the batter's case for captaincy even stronger, PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin revealed an unheard IPL story about Iyer where he highlighted his fabulous leadership skills during the crucial second qualifier clash against the Mumbai Indians.
He revealed how Iyer came in last moment before the toss and declared that they will elect to bowl first if they win despite the team management wanting him to choose batting. Though the batter decided to go against the orders of the management, he ended up proving himself by playing a match-winning knock of 87 runs with his side chasing the massive target of 204.
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“You do all you planning for the game and at the stadium in Ahmedabad, everything says bat first. The analytics and the match-ups, go through your team stuff, everything says bat first. And this is where our captain hasn't got enough credit and I hope, when they come down to pick an Indian captain, they really start to consider Iyer. He was outstanding throughout the whole tournament," Haddin said on The Grade Cricketer podcast.
"We say to him, 'Yep we are batting first.' But he goes, 'No, we're bowling.' Punter goes, 'okay let the captain make the choice.' He then said, 'No, I'll win the game and I'm going to bat second. Everything leads to batting first, but we bowl. Then captain comes out in the second innings and plays one of the best knocks in IPL I have ever seen and got us into the final,” he added.
After the Mumbai-based franchise had set a big target for PBKS to chase, it was Iyer who took the responsibility on his shoulders and carried the side to victory through his incredible inning. The batter was fantastic with the bat throughout the season and finished as the Punjab-based franchise's top-scorer with 604 runs under his name.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn't officially reacted to initial reports stating that Iyer is being considered for India's captaincy, so it remains to be seen whether he will be handed leadership duties or not in the Bangladesh white-ball tour.