Shreyas Iyer in IPL 2024 for KKR (Source:@IPL/X.com)
Shreyas Iyer, the IPL 2024 winning captain will be playing for Punjab Kings in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League as he was bought by the franchise at a whopping amount of 26.75 Crore. The star Indian batter was expected to garner plenty of interest as he provides a solid leadership option along with his batting skills and hid bidding process lived upto to the billing with plenty of twists and turns.
The right-handed batter was one of the marquee players and as soon as Kolkata Knight Riders decided to release their title winning captain, it was clear that Shreyas would earn big bucks in the auction. He provides a solid batting option who can bat anywhere in the line-up and has lot of experience of delivering in handling pressure situations. He is now likely to lead Punjab Kings and it would be interesting to see how he takes the franchise forward.
PBKS Defeat DC In A Bidding War To Get Shreyas Iyer
As soon as Shreyas Iyer's name popped up, KKR came up with an opening bid of 2 Crores and it was followed by intense battle between Punjab Kings and the reigning IPL champions. However, Punjab Kings backed out at 7.25 Crore and DC came in at 7.50 Crore. Then continued the battle with KKR, however, PBKS surprisingly came back in the race after KKR backed out. As the price came close to 20 Crore, the excitement and nervousness was quite evident in both camps and PBKS eventually crossed the 20 Crore barrier as well. The bid eventually surpassed the highest-bid ever and he became the most expensive player in the history of the IPL at 26.75 Crore.
However, Pant surpassed him as he was bagged by LSG at 27 Crore.
Shreyas Iyer's IPL Career And Stats
Shreyas Iyer started his IPL career with Delhi Daredevils and made an impact straightaway with 439 runs in his first season. He then went onto lead the franchise which was renamed as Delhi Capitals and took them to the final of the 2020 season. It was quite clear that he is a competent leader and KKR decided to go after the star Indian batter in the 2022 mega auction.
They managed to grab him and he was named the captain of the side, but he had to miss the 2023 season due to injury. However, he came back strongly and repaid the faith of the franchise by taking KKR to their title win in the 2024 edition. He scored 351 runs in 14 matches at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 146.86 in the last season, and overall he has 3127 runs in the IPL at an average of 32.24 in 115 matches.