IPL 2025: 3 players who can captain Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings (PBKS) had pressed the reset button hard ahead of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 2025 mega auction. They had let go of most of their big guns and retained youngsters and uncapped talents like Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh.

However, they then had a really solid auction, during which they managed to buy Shreyas Iyer, the second most expensive player to be sold in the auction, for INR 26.75 crore. 

They also bought Arshdeep Singh to lead their bowling attack for INR 18 crore and strengthened their all-rounders reserve by acquiring Marcus Stoinis for INR 11 crore and Glenn Maxwell for INR 4.20 crore. 

With many big names in the squad and such high-profile auction purchases, it would be interesting to see who finally becomes the skipper. Although, the front runner isn’t a secret.

Shreyas Iyer

When a team shells out 26.75 crore for you, there’s a big chance you are more than just a player for them.

While his 3,127 runs at a strike rate of 127.5 don’t scream generational talent, Shreyas brings a lot of brand value and also leadership skills to the table for PBKS, who punted hard on him after he led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL Trophy in 2024. 

Captaincy would suit the middle-order batter and give him an option as well to impress the Indian selectors with his T20 performances. 

Glenn Maxwell

While Maxwell doesn’t have a lot of captaincy experience behind him, the all-rounder has played 134 IPL games. 

He has been in great nick, and his strike rate of 156.7 in the IPL can increase further with the pitches being conducive to batters and the impact substitute rule being in place. 

Even if Shreyas becomes the skipper, Maxwell can be his able deputy with the experience of playing T20 cricket across the globe for a plethora of teams. 

Marcus Stoinis

Stoinis has been in and around the leadership groups of many franchise league teams he has played for, including the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL. However, the full-time captaincy position has eluded the big allrounder from Australia. 

The Hulk, as he’s popularly called, has 1,866 IPL runs at an average of 28.27 and a strike rate of 142. He has also taken 43 wickets at an average of 29. These numbers put him in the league of best all-rounders of IPL.

In addition, don’t be surprised if he’s a key member of the PBKS leadership group or even Shreyas' deputy.