Shreyas Iyer enters IPL 2026 with unfinished business — can his leadership and batting finally guide PBKS beyond the final hurdle?
Shreyas Iyer will enter IPL 2026 with unfinished business and a growing sense that his story with Punjab Kings (PBKS) is only at halftime, not the final whistle. After dragging a chronically underperforming franchise to the brink of history in 2025, the next step is clear and unforgiving: transform promise into a maiden title.
For years, Punjab hovered on the fringes of relevance – occasional sparks, the frequent mid-table finishes, and a lingering sense of unfulfilled potential. That script flipped decisively in 2025. Fresh off an IPL triumph with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2024, Iyer arrived in Mullanpur and immediately reset the franchise’s standards, instilling belief, structure, and an edge that had long been missing.
He became the first captain to lead three different franchises to an IPL final: Delhi (2020), KKR (2024), and now Punjab in 2025, a leadership feat that underlined his tactical pedigree. Under him, PBKS topped the league table and returned to the playoffs after more than a decade.
From the outside, it looked like continuity of success from KKR to PBKS; inside the dressing room, it was a cultural reset built on accountability, clarity of roles and a captain who did not flinch from the big moments.
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Season of revival
Individually, Iyer’s 2025 was the sort of season batters dream about, and analysts bookmark for years. He scored 604 runs in 17 innings at an average of over 50 and a strike rate pushing 175, stacking up six fifties and a highest of 97*. For a side that had often lacked a reliable batting fulcrum, his permanence at No. 3 changed the entire tempo of Punjab’s innings.
Punjab’s campaign was not flawless; a heavy Qualifier 1 loss to a red-hot Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) revived familiar doubts. But Iyer’s emphatic answer in Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians (MI) was the sharpest statement of intent. Chasing 204 against a side that had never lost while defending 200-plus in IPL history, PBKS hunted the target down with more than an over to spare, delivering their clearest statement yet under his leadership.
Iyer’s unbeaten 87 off 41 balls ripped up that statistic. He calculated the chase, refused to panic after Qualifier 1, and dismantled a Bumrah-led attack with a hat-trick of sixes off Reece Topley to swing the game decisively.
That innings was more than a knockout cameo; it was a declaration that Punjab were no longer playing with a “we’ll see” mindset. They were hunting history with a captain who used pressure as fuel.
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From contenders to calculated operators
If 2025 was about proving PBKS could run with the big boys, the IPL 2026 mini-auction showed they now know how to behave like one. Shreyas Iyer fronted the auction table in Abu Dhabi, reinforcing the franchise’s belief in captain-driven planning. PBKS retained their spine around Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and Marcus Stoinis, resisting the urge to tear down a finalist squad.
With limited slots and less money in the purse, they added multi-dimensional and situational depth. Cooper Connolly as a dynamic batting all-round option, left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis for death and Powerplay flexibility, and domestic options like Praveen Dubey and Vishal Nishad to bolster spin and middle-order cover.
What PBKS need to do now
Punjab’s challenge in 2026 is as much psychological as it is tactical. They must show that 2025 was a genuine turning point, not a one-off spike. The blueprint is clear: a stable top three with Shreyas Iyer as the anchor-accelerator, a power-laden middle order, and a varied bowling attack combining left-arm pace, hit-the-deck seamers, and spin options across phases.
Equally important is avoiding familiar pitfalls. The pre-Iyer era was defined by late-innings collapses and mid-overs stagnation. Clear roles for finishers and impact substitutes will be crucial if Punjab are to prevent old habits from resurfacing and turn promise into sustained success.
Going ruthless in crunch moments will also be the key. The gap between runners-up and champions is usually decided by one tactical call, one over, one field change. This is where Iyer’s calm reading of games, showcased against MI, has to spread through the group.
If they can carry the rhythm and confidence of 2025 into 2026 without slipping into complacency, PBKS will not just be a “dangerous side”; they will be a settled heavyweight.
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Shreyas Iyer’s bigger stakes
For Shreyas Iyer, IPL 2026 is not just about Punjab’s trophy drought; it is also about his own place in the Indian cricket conversation. Injuries and phases of non-selection have already cost him long stretches in the India jersey across formats, pushing him out of the immediate national core. A commanding season, both as batter and leader, is his most powerful argument for a genuine international recall ahead of future ICC events.
Not to forget amid all the rise and redemption, Ricky Ponting has been instrumental in backing Iyer, both at the auction table, insisting Punjab break the bank for him, and in the dressing room, where he values Iyer’s on-field autonomy and tactical clarity.
The PBKS management has doubled down on that faith by putting Iyer at the centre of team-building decisions, effectively telling him: this is your project, your dressing room, your shot at finishing what you started.
That is why IPL 2026 feels like unfinished business.
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