CHENNAI: During the innings break of the game between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer organised an impromptu, informal team meeting. No team had ever chased down a target of 265 in the 20-year history of the format, but the captain believed in his troops. "Although it is 265," Yash Thakur remembers the message to the group, "we will chase it down".
In a nutshell, this short message explains Shreyas's entire philosophy to leadership and captaincy. Communication, relentless positivity, inspiring speeches inside the dressing room, and not shying away from responsibility.
This is the story of how the 31-year-old built the Punjab Kings in his own image.
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When Shreyas took Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2024, he may have been a retention lock ahead of the mega auction. But he was released. Punjab, who had released a lot of players, had money to bid for A-list superstars. So, they wanted a proven Indian leader and made Shreyas the costliest player at the auction (till Lucknow eclipsed that with their bid for Rishabh Pant later in the auction).
Eyebrows were raised when the Mumbaikar was signed for `26.75 crore, but roughly 18 months later, this is the best `26.75 cr they have spent in their 19-year history. He has helped change the culture of the franchise. In the past, they were synonymous with inconsistency, and their leaders had a history of non-performance. In fact, from 2008 to 2024, they had multiple leadership changes, including mid-season. The environment surrounding the franchise, it seemed, was breaking their captains.
In 2025 and 2026? The franchise and the captain have soared to new heights. A symbiotic relationship, if ever there was one.
How?
This piece, told through the eyes of Nehal Wadhera, Thakur (Punjab teammates), Ricky Ponting (franchise's head coach) and Tanush Kotian (Shreyas's Mumbai teammate and friend), finds a captain who's a force of nature. He leads by example and ensures he's always there to support his colleagues off the field. Ponting cites the example of how the captain has always put his arm around Priyansh Arya as an example. In a select interaction, Marco Jansen also makes the point that Shreyas isn't a dictator but somebody who's welcoming and always up for discussions. Kotian, who played under him in Mumbai's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy-winning 2024-25, says Shreyas is a motivating, inspiring figure.
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Ponting has seen Shreyas' growth over a number of years — they first shared the relationship of coach and captain in the latter stages of the 2018 season with Delhi Daredevils (they were rebranded as Captitals in 2019). The Australian lists two primary reasons why Shreyas not only commands the respect of the dressing room but is also a much-loved figure.
"He has got a really good ability to communicate with his players," he tells this daily. "He's very positive with the players all the time. I worked with him for a number of years at Delhi. He obviously went from Delhi to Kolkata (Knight Riders) and won an IPL. He's now experienced and that helps a lot. The other thing that helps a lot (with respect to the captaincy) is he's at the very top of his own game."
What Ponting says is pretty clear. As a leader and captain, it's easy to bark instructions in the dressing room and set the agenda, but players, young and old, need that buy-in. And that buy-in is that much easier when the captain leads from the front with his own actions. Because the 31-year-old practices what he preaches, the Punjab dressing room is prepared to walk through walls and climb mountains for him.
Here's Ponting. "When he's on the field, he leads by example and plays a certain way and wants the rest of the players to play the way he plays the game and follow in his footsteps." Both Kotian and Jansen are firm Shreyas believers. "He gave me a free hand and told me to do whatever I wanted to do," Kotian tells this mast. "Don't think too much about the result, he encouraged me to play aggressively. When we won SMAT in 2024-25, I learnt a lot from him. The way he bats up the order, his free-flowing game... it inspired us to step up and do well as well."
Wadhera, who had a breakout season in 2025, offers something similar. "He is someone who wants to lead by example," the southpaw tells this daily. "Yes, he does guide us about what’s expected from us regularly, but he thinks the best way to extract the maximum performance from the team is by setting the benchmark himself."
Jansen, who had a memorable Indian winter with South Africa's whites, thinks he can corner glory in the Indian summer as well. And Shreyas is a big part of why he feels so. "You know," the all-rounder says, "he's going to lead the team in a way where it's going to put the team in a position to not just win games but also, if you are lucky enough, win a trophy as well. He's always welcoming. It's never a case of it feeling like a dictatorship. He makes everyone feel valued and welcomed."
The 51-year-old Ponting, who joined hands with Shreyas at Punjab last year, illustrates this with the example of Arya. "Someone like Priyansh has always appreciated the fact that Shreyas has always had his back all the time," he says. "He's always been there to put his arm around his shoulder and pat him on the back and give him a bit of confidence."
Arya, who lit up the Delhi league in 2024, burst into the national consciousness thanks to his exploits with Punjab in 2025 (strike rate of 179.2 across 17 games while averaging 27.9). Behind the scenes, the captain was working with the opener, ensuring the southpaw knew he would get chances.
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One thing that a lot of players appreciate Shreyas for is his ability to big up his players in his speeches. When asked if he's one for making grand speeches in the dressing room, Ponting smiles. "It depends if I ask him to make a speech or not in the team meeting (smiles)," the Australian says.
"But he will. He's very good at articulating the way he wants his team to play as well, and quite often he will speak up in team meetings."
During one such meeting in the innings break against Capitals, he calmly broke down how they could win. Here's Thakur. "I have rarely come across people who have the mindset he has. His confidence is infectious and it spreads within the dressing room." The message, from Shreyas and Ponting to the team, was simple. "Against Lucknow at Mullanpur, we scored 254. We need to score 10 more today. I'm sure we can."
Jansen also highlights Shreyas' capacity 'to know what he wants to achieve'. "He's very driven," the all-rounder says. "You sort of follow his lead. As a player, it's nice to have a captain like that where you feel you can go up to the captain to speak about certain things about the game. He will give his advice or two cents and then he will formulate a plan with you to help you get better if need be and to take the team forward."
The franchise, who are on course to make one of the best starts to the season ever after 10 games, know this can be a special season. Apart from Delhi, they are the only member of the founding eight yet to win the league. 2026, though, is a chance to change that.
(With inputs from Gomesh S)
