On Sunday, January 12, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan officially announced that superstar batsman Shreyas Iyer will lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL 2025).
The official announcement about Shreyas Iyer taking over the captaincy of Punjab Kings was made on Bigg Boss 18 Weekend Ka Vaar where a number of Punjab Kings players were present.
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Shreyas Iyer lands Bigg Boss 18 with Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh
Shreyas Iyer, along with star leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and explosive batsman Shashank Singh, joined Salman Khan on Bigg Boss 18 Weekend Ka Vaar, which aired on January 12.
Bigg Boss is a popular Indian reality television show based on the Dutch reality show Big Brother. Produced by Endemol Shine India, the 18th season of the series, hosted by Salman Khan for the 15th time, is currently ongoing.
Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shashank Singh were seen having fun with Salman Khan on stage and also danced together on 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 also entered the Bigg Boss house and a mini cricket match was played between Team Shreyas and Team Yuzi. Ayer's team consists of Rajat Dalal and Vivian Dsena while Karan Vir Mehra has joined Shashank Singh in Yuzvendra Chahal's team.
The Ka Vaar weekend will be even more entertaining when Gharwale plays a cricket match with Punjab Kings players.
view #BiggBoss18 Weekends Saturday and Sunday at 9.30pm @ColorsTV gold #GeoCinema par pic.twitter.com/ZY1e1RwxAL
– Jio Cinema (@JioCinema) January 12, 2025
Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shashank Singh – Key Players of Punjab Kings
Iyer, Chahal and Shashank are the key players for PBKS and the performance of the trio will determine how successful a season the franchise will have 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 Prabhisimran Singh for Rs 4 crore.
Over the years, PBKS has struggled to find a good leader and has had to make a lot of changes to the leadership group. This time to fix this problem, they entered the auction with a clear mind to sign a reputable captain and were able to buy Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer, who was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after leading them to the title in IPL 2024, was bought by Punjab Kings for a whopping INR 26.75 crore when they broke their bank for him.
PBKS also went all out to buy Yuzvendra Chahal in the auction and bought him for INR 18 Crores, making him the most expensive player in the history of the league.
Punjab Kings are looking to win the Indian Premier League under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting
Punjab Kings have been one of the biggest underperforming teams in the history of the Indian Premier League. Since the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Punjab-based team has witnessed a mixture of highs and lows, with their best performance coming in 2014 when they finished second.
They've been wildly inconsistent over the years, and frequent chopping and changes have only made things worse for them. However, with Ricky Ponting at the helm as head coach and Iyer as captain, PBKS will hope to pull off a major turnaround and end the trophy drought in IPL 2025.
Notably, they entered the mega auction with the largest purse of Rs 110.5 crore and managed to put together a balanced team, including the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marko Janssen, Glenn Maxwell, Nihal Wadhera and many others.
