PBKS Co-Owner Predicted A Year Ago That Shreyas Iyer Would Be India Captain, Shares His Reaction
Earlier this month, BCCI selection committee decided to drop T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav from the squad and hand the role to Shreyas Iyer.
Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) selection committee made a big decision. It decided to drop T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav from the squad and hand the role to Shreyas Iyer, a player who made a comeback in the team after a gap of more than two years. Interestingly, Iyer was predicted to take this position a year ago by his Indian Premier League team Punjab Kings' co-owner Ness Wadia. He shared his opinion with Iyer, and the player gave a surprising reaction to it.
It is worth noting that Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in IPL 2024. After this, the side released him, and PBKS paid a whopping sum of Rs 24.75 crore in the auction to bag the player.
"Our first meeting was a brief one, at my house for about an hour before the Dharamsala camp last year, ahead of IPL 2025. I'd spoken to him a few times on the phone and things like that, but I'd never actually met him in person. Within 15 minutes, I turned around to him and said, 'You know, you're going to be India captain one day.' And I said, 'When you become captain, remember who told you.' He looked at me a little surprised and smiled. He said, 'No, no, no,'" Wadia told Cricbuzz.
"Because he's a really, really good human being and a wonderful person - simple, grounded, stays within himself. And then, when he comes onto the field, he becomes this wonderful leader. He's got a fantastic cricketing brain and has been captaining for so many years. He's a fantastic leader. I love sports and I love sportsmen, and I've met many good people. But it's definitely been an honour to meet him," he added.
Iyer led PBKS to the final of IPL 2025, where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Wadia praised Iyer's leadership. When asked what makes the player different, he said, "His style is very soft and gentle. He's not pushy. He carries everyone along with him. He listens to his players and understands their strengths. He won't overburden players when they're under pressure. If they make mistakes, he's not going to make a big issue out of it. He's very balanced as a leader and leads from the front in many ways."
India Cricket Team