New Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer became the seventh IPL captain to score over 2000 runs in the tournament’s history. The 30-year-old made his IPL debut in 2015 and was part of the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) till 2021 before switching his base to Kolkata Knight Riders. In IPL 2024, he led KKR to their third IPL title in history but the franchise didn’t retain him after failed negotiations.
Iyer has played 117 matches so far in the IPL and has scored 3127 runs at a strike rate of 127.47. In 2025, he joined Punjab Kings and in the opening match itself, the Mumbai-born showed character and became only the seventh IPL captain to score over 2000 runs. The list features the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and David Warner among others.
| Captains | Runs |
| Virat Kohli | 4994 |
| MS Dhoni | 4660 |
| Rohit Sharma | 3986 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 3518 |
| David Warner | 3356 |
| KL Rahul | 2691 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 2000* |
Iyer also became the fourth cricketer in IPL history to lead three teams in the competition. Mahela Jayawardene became the first cricketer to name the record, followed by Kumar Sangakkara and Steve Smith.
Interestingly, the cricketer scored a half-century on his debut for Punjab. Debutant Priyansh Arya set the platform with 47 runs off 23 deliveries. Iyer capitalised on the momentum, completing his half-century in 27 deliveries. He brought that up with a cracking six against Rashid Khan in the 14th over of the match. It was his 28th half-century in the tournament.
The captain showed intent right from the beginning, which is a positive side. Wickets fell quickly from the other end at one point but Iyer didn’t compromise on his strike rate and kept the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs. He built an important partnership with Marcus Stoinis and will be hoping to see off the innings.