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As he praised Shreyas Iyer for his leadership during the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Sunil Gavaskar made a subtle jab at Gautam Gambhir, the current head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team.

Iyer, who led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL 2024 championship, is now the only captain in IPL history to lead three separate IPL teams to the playoffs after leading Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the playoffs. Prior to KKR, he had accomplished this with the Delhi Capitals (DC).

In addition to praising Iyer’s leadership, Gavaskar said that the fellow Mumbai player wasn’t given enough credit for KKR’s championship victory the previous season. He said that the captain, not a player on the bench, is the most important member of the squad.

Gavaskar stated his opinion that Iyer, rather than Ricky Ponting, is now receiving credit this year.

“He was not given credit for last season’s IPL triumph. Someone else received all the praise. The captain, not the person in the dugout, is the one who has a big influence on what goes on in the center. You see, he’s receiving fair credit this year. On Star Sports, Gavaskar was cited as stating, “No one is giving Ricky Ponting all the credit.”

Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting, the head coach of PBKS, worked together when they were both at DC, where they guided the club to its maiden IPL final in 2020.

Ponting, who bought Iyer for ₹26.75 crore at the 2025 IPL super auction, emphasized in several interviews that he was pleased with Iyer and his willingness to bring him to Punjab.

Iyer delivered with the bat and led PBKS to the playoffs for the first time in eleven years. With a strike rate of 174.70 and a maximum score of 87*, he has amassed 435 runs from 12 games.