Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra lavished praise on Shreyas Iyer for leading Punjab Kings from the front in the ongoing IPL 2026. PBKS is the only unbeaten team in the ongoing season with three wins and one no result in four games.
Iyer has scored 137 runs in three innings of the tournament at an average of 68.50 and a blistering strike rate of 187.67 and he is the team’s leading run-getter in the season. Furthermore, Iyer had led PBKS to the final of the previous edition, scoring 604 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 175.07.
“Punjab Kings, they don’t need to do anything. You have been doing everything fine. Shreyas Iyer is a Mumbai boy and is returning to Mumbai. He is such a unique player because this is the only team where there is not even one capped Indian batter around him,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra said PBKS don’t have any overseas superstar batter in their squad and rated Yuzvendra Chahal as Iyer’s trump card.
“All uncapped Indian batters and not even one superstar overseas batter. He manages the team despite that. He captains well, bats well, controls the game whether it’s a run chase or you are batting first, and he knows how to utilize his bowling resources well. He has only one trump card, and his name is Yuzvendra Chahal,” he observed.
The renowned commentator expects the Mohali-based franchise to adopt an aggressive approach with the bat.
‘Punjab, I expect you to go hammer and tongs from ball one, whether it’s Priyansh Arya or Prabhsimran Singh with him. Cooper Connolly will like this pitch. He doesn’t move his feet, but hits mighty sixes, and you won’t need to move your feet much on this pitch. Then followed by Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis. There is massive depth in batting,” he said.
Chopra said PBKS will continue backing Xavier Bartlett as the Mumbai pitch will assist the Australian seamer.
“There is batting till Marco Jansen. I see Xavier Bartlett playing because the pitch might help him a little as well initially in terms of swing and pace. Punjab, only one thing, Arshdeep Singh needs to rediscover his form because he is not picking up wickets with the new ball, and that is a bit of an issue,” Chopra observed.
MI will host PBKS on Thursday.
