Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has expressed that Shreyas Iyer didn’t get the necessary credit for successfully leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to title win last year. Gavaskar indirectly took a dig at Gautam Gambhir, who was KKR’s mentor last year. It wasn’t just Iyer’s leadership that took the side to the title win; his batting was also equally sensible in creating the path for KKR’s title victory. Last year, he scored 351 runs from 14 innings at an average of 39.
"He didn't get the credit for the IPL victory last season. All the plaudits were given to someone else. It's the captain who plays a major role in what's happening in the middle and not someone sitting in the dugout," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Despite lifting KKR to victory, he was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Later, during the auction, Iyer was roped in by Punjab Kings for an eye-catching sum of INR 26.75 crore. Now, under his leadership, Punjab Kings have qualified for the playoffs – the first time since 2014. At Punjab, Iyer is working with Ricky Ponting, who is the head coach of the side. As of now, Iyer has smacked 405 runs in 11 matches.
"See, this year he's getting fair credit. No one is giving all the credit to Ricky Ponting,” he added.