On Sunday, January 12, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan officially announced that star middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer will lead the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025).
The official announcement about Shreyas Iyer taking charge of Punjab Kings was made on Bigg Boss 18 Weekend Ka Vaar where few more players of Punjab Kings were present.
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Shreyas Iyer lands on the sets of Bigg Boss 18 along with Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh
Shreyas Iyer along with star Yuzvendra Chahal and explosive batsman Shashank Singh joined Salman Khan for Bigg Boss 18 Weekend Ka Vaar, which aired on January 12.
Bigg Boss is a popular Indian reality show franchise based on the Dutch reality show Big Brother. It is produced by Endemol Shine India, and the eighteenth season of the show is currently underway, hosted by Salman Khan for the fifteenth time.
Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh were seen having fun with Salman Khan on stage and dancing together to Bollywood tunes before it was officially announced that Iyer will be the new captain of Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League.
The trio of PBKS cricketers further entered the Bigg Boss house and a mini cricket match was played between Team Shreyas and Team Yuzi. Iyer’s team consisted of Rajat Dalal and Vivian Dsena, while Karan Veer Mehra joined Shashank Singh in Yuzvendra Chahal’s team.
Weekend Ka Vaar hoga aur bhi fun jab gharwale khelenge cricket match with punjab kings players. 🏏
Dekhiye #BiggBoss18 Weekend Ka Vaar Shanivaar aur Ravivaar raat 9.30 baje @ColorsTV aur #JioCinema couple. pic.twitter.com/ZY1e1RwxAL
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) January 12, 2025
Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh – the key players of Punjab Kings
Iyer, Chahal and Shashank are key players for PBKS and the trio’s performance will determine how successful the franchise will have a season in IPL 2025.
Ahead of the mega auction, the franchise retained explosive batsman Shashank Singh for Rs 5.5 crore along with young wicketkeeper-batsman Prabhsimran Singh for Rs 4 crore.
Over the years, PBKS has struggled to find a good captain and has been forced to make many changes in leadership. This time to solve this problem they entered the auction with a clear mind to attract a famous captain and managed to buy Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer, who was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after leading them to win the IPL 2024 title, was bought by Punjab Kings for a whopping ₹26.75 crore as they broke the bank for him.
PBKS also went all out for Yuzvendra Chahal in the auction and bought him for INR 18 crore, making him the most expensive spinner in the history of the league.
Punjab Kings are looking to win the IPL under Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting
Punjab Kings have been one of the biggest underdogs in the history of the Indian Premier League. Since the first edition of the IPL, the Punjab-based franchise has seen a mix of ups and downs, with their best performance coming in 2014 when they finished as runners-up.
They have been very inconsistent over the years, and the frequent chopping and changing has only made things worse for them. However, with Ricky Ponting at the helm as head coach and Iyer as captain, PBKS would be hoping for a major turnaround and end their trophy drought in the 2025 IPL.
Notably, they entered the mega auction with the highest bill of Rs 110.5 crore and managed to field a balanced squad including Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marc Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera and many more.
