
It was one of the most wanted names at the IPL 2025 auction.
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) broke the bank to acquire the unconditional of Indian batting Shreyas Iyer at the Auction of India Premier League (IPL 2025) last November. The Punjab -based franchise wasted a huge INR 26.75 million rupees, making it the second most expensive player in the history of IPL.
However, PBKs coach Ricky Ponting now opened saying that they paid excessively for the Indian star in an attempt to deny it going to the capitals of Delhi (DC), which were wrapped in the war of offers with Pbk .
Talking about the PBKS strategy to acquire Iyer, Ponting said in the Howie Games podcast,
“At the end of the day, it is India Premier League. It is not so much about the boys abroad. Foreign boys create a lot of exaggeration, have a lot of money or whatever. But as far as I am concerned, I need to bring the team correctly to the team. So we started with Shreyas Iyer, with whom I have worked in Delhi. He [Iyer] I went for more than we expected. There was a team (DC) who was making an offer against that I was very interested in making sure it wasn’t there. “
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In particular, Shreyas Iyer was a very wanted name in the Augta Mega, especially after leading the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to his third IPL title last season.
In addition, Ponting and Iyer have worked together during their time in DC as a chief coach and captain respectively of 2018-2022. The association was also very effective since DC managed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2019 and ended as finalists in IPL 2020.
Now with Iyer in the ranks along with his proven captaincy, PBK will wait for the Jinx to break and win their single title this time.
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