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The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the league, former Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra revealed the possible reasons why Shreyas Iyer does not get credit as a captain.
Earlier, in the 2024 edition, Iyer helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to clinch the title, but did not get enough credit for the job.
The former cricketer explained that the Mumbai-born cricketer was with a team in which even the coach was a popular personality, and Iyer`s contribution as a captain got diluted.
“I think his contribution as a leader got diluted a bit in the narrative that`s often set by people who are not a part of the team. Two things happened at KKR with Shreyas Iyer. He was in a setup where the coach was also a very strong and popular personality. That wasn`t the case with MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma, or even Virat Kohli at RCB, where there wasn`t such a dominant figure outside calling the shots,” said Chopra.
He then said that MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have led Team India, and Iyer has not yet led the national team.
“Here, you had Gautam Gambhir, a very successful player and a very good mentor. The others, MS, Rohit and Kohli, have been India Captains for a significant period and very successful ones. Credit is already given to them on a platter. In Shreyas` case, he is not an India captain. But he is now getting his due, because he is doing so well,” said the former cricketer.
Shreyas will now lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2026. PBKS will begin their campaign by playing a clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 31 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
IPL 2026, Punjab Kings: Full Squad
Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Cooper Connolly, Pravin Dubey, Vishal Nishad, Ben Dwarshuis.
(With ANI Inputs)
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