He was one of the most sought-after names in the IPL 2025 auction.
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) broke the bank to acquire Indian batting stalwart Shreyas Iyer at the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) auction last November. The Punjab-based franchise splurged a whopping INR 26.75 crores, making him the second-most expensive player in IPL history.
However, PBKS coach Ricky Ponting has now opened up saying that they overpaid for the India star in a bid to deny him going to the Delhi Capitals (DC), who were embroiled in the bidding war with PBKS.
Talking about PBKS’s strategy to acquire Iyer, Ponting said on the Howie Games podcast,
“At the end of the day, it’s the Indian Premier League. It’s not so much about the overseas guys. The overseas guys create a lot of hype, they go for a lot of money or whatever. But as far as I am concerned, I need to bring right Indian players back into the team. So we start with Shreyas Iyer, who I’ve worked with at Delhi. He [Iyer] went for more than what we expected. There was a team (DC) that I was bidding against that I was pretty keen to make sure that he didn’t go there.”
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Notably, Shreyas Iyer was a highly sought-after name in the mega-auction, especially after he led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title last season.
Furthermore, Ponting and Iyer have worked together during their time in DC as head coach and captain respectively from 2018-2022. The partnership was also highly effective as DC managed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2019 and finished as runners-up in IPL 2020.
Now with Iyer in the ranks alongside his proven captaincy, PBKS will hope they can break the jinx and win their maiden title this time around.
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