‘Sarpanch’ Shreyas Iyer reaches another IPL milestone, joins MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to become…

Shreyas Iyer on Sunday joined the elite list in IPL history after becoming only the fifth player to captain a team in 100 matches in the tournament.The milestone came during the Punjab Kings IPL 2026 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.Before Iyer, only MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had reached the 100-match mark as IPL captains.The 31-year-old captains three franchises in the league — Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.Iyer captained the Delhi Capitals for the first time in 2018 and led the team in 41 matches. Under him, Delhi reached their first IPL final in 2020.He later moved to KKR and led the team in 29 matches between 2022 and 2024. He led Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title in 2024.His stint with Punjab Kings has already seen the final form, in IPL 2025, making Iyer the only captain in IPL history to lead three different teams to the finals of the tournament.Before Sunday’s match, Iyer had 56 wins as captain, including two Super Over wins, and 40 defeats. Three matches ended without a result.His match-winning completion percentage stands at 58.3 per cent, which is tied with Dhoni for the best success rate among IPL captains.The record adds another chapter to Iyer’s captaincy journey across various franchises and squads in the IPL.In the match, Punjab Kings (PBKS) chose to bat first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).After winning the toss, PBKS captain Iyer said, “We will bowl. I don’t go by the stats; we can clearly see how the games are going. If we bat and bowl well, the toss doesn’t matter. I didn’t know it’s my 100th match as captain but I’ll be happy if we win. Lockie we need to bowl fantastic.”PBKS made a few changes to their playing XI for this match, bringing in Harpreet Brar and Lockie Ferguson in place of Xavier Bartlett and Marc Jansen.Jitesh Sharma leads RCB in today’s match in the absence of full-time skipper Rajit Patidar.Punjab Kings’ campaign this season has also seen a flurry of form. The team started IPL 2026 with a seven-match unbeaten streak that included six wins and one loss. However, five straight defeats later in the season put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.Even so, Iyer’s rise as captain in the IPL continued steadily. From helping Delhi Capitals become title contenders to lead KKR to the title and now trying to revive Punjab Kings’ campaign, he has built a strong record as a captain across teams.Dhoni, who led Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant in 235 matches between 2008 and 2025, remains atop the list of all-time IPL captains.