Shreyas Iyer is on a roll as captain, and he’s really showing off his skills with the bat too. On April 1, in Lucknow, Iyer led the Punjab Kings to another win in the IPL, beating the Lucknow Super Giants by a comfortable eight wickets. It was a great game for the Punjab bowlers, led by Arshdeep Singh, who did a fantastic job on a tricky pitch and kept LSG to 171 runs. When it was time for the Kings to bat, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, and Iyer made it look easy, chasing down the target in just 16.2 overs.
With this win, the Punjab Kings climbed up to second place in the points table, bringing their total to four points. But it’s not just the team’s success that’s the talk of the town. Iyer also hit a big milestone for himself, marking eight straight wins as captain in the IPL. This includes six victories from last season when he led the Kolkata Knight Riders and now two for the Kings this season. With this achievement, Iyer has tied with Shane Warne’s record and has even surpassed MS Dhoni’s streak. Speaking of Dhoni, he has three instances in his career where he won six consecutive matches as captain, and his top record stands at seven wins in a row from 2013. The twist is, despite all those wins, CSK didn’t clinch the title those years, which is a bit surprising considering they’ve bagged five championships in total under his captaincy.
Gautam Gambhir has the record for the most consecutive wins, sitting at ten straight victories with KKR in the 2014-15 season when they also won the title. Here’s how the leaderboard for consecutive wins as IPL captains breaks down:
– 10 wins: Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 2014-15
– 8 wins: Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals) – 2008
– 8 wins: Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings) – 2024-25
– 7 wins: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 2013
– 6 wins: Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 2012
– 6 wins: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 2014
– 6 wins: Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – 2018
– 6 wins: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 2019
– 6 wins: Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) – 2024
Iyer did hit a snag at one point last year when the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals was called off due to rain, but since then, he hasn’t lost a match as captain. The last time he faced defeat was on April 26, 2024, when his current team, the Punjab Kings, chased down a hefty target of 262 against his former team, the KKR. With two wins already under their belt, the Kings are looking like a strong side that could take down any opponent on a good day, and Iyer is definitely eager to go for the all-time record.
