Delhi: Punjab Kings (PBKS) are the leaders in the points table of the matches played till May 1 in IPL 2026. As against their 13 points in 8 matches, three teams are on 12-12 points after playing more matches than them. Last season, Punjab Kings played in the finals and were as likely to win the title as Royal Challengers Bangalore. Same story this year and once again Punjab Kings are on top in the title race.

No single factor will be held responsible for this change in the game of Punjab Kings, but it is certain that the presence of Shreyas Iyer with the team as captain has played the most important role in it. The team is completely changed with Shreyas and contenders to add their first title to their record.

There is something special that under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, three different franchises have played the finals. This is no ordinary record. If we look at Shreyas Iyer’s IPL match winning record in percentage, believe me, he gives competition to the legendary captains MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma and the record till May 1 matches is astonishing:

* MS Dhoni won 136 out of 235 matches i.e. 57.87 percent.
* Rohit Sharma won 87 out of 158 matches i.e. 55.06 percent.
* Shreyas Iyer has won 54 out of 95 matches i.e. 56.84 percent.
* Apart from these three, among those who captained in at least 50 matches, the only captain who won 50 percent of the matches is Gautam Gambhir and won 71 out of 129 matches i.e. 55.03 percent.

Shreyas Iyer is now close to the record of completing 100 matches as captain in IPL and apart from MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, only Virat Kohli (143) has reached this record. Three different teams, with none of these captains, played in the final. Those who have been following Shreyas Iyer’s IPL career since his debut in IPL, know that from the beginning, Shreyas Iyer was seen as a true leader as captain. Making him captain of three different franchises is proof of this. Well, they are not currently challenging MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma’s record of winning 5 titles, but who has seen the future?

Three teams who played IPL final with Shreyas Iyer:
* Delhi Capitals: Became their captain in 2018 and the team played the IPL final for the first time in 2020.
* Kolkata Knight Riders: This team’s drought of not winning the title ended in 2024 under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, winning their first title in a decade.
* Punjab Kings: With him, Punjab Kings played the final for the first time in 12 years. In the final, Royal Challengers Bangalore ended their title drought but the wait extended for Punjab Kings.

The way Shreyas Iyer is leading by example in IPL 2026, has brought him to the brink of claiming the title of T20 captain of Team India. Along with individual performance, bold decisions under pressure, the ability to get the best out of his players and most importantly, winning those ‘moments’ which prove to be the turning points in the match, have been Shreyas’ forte.

That is why now the discussion is about counting him as one of the best captains of IPL. If MS Dhoni is the top player in IPL with most wins (136) and win percentage (57.87 in at least 100 matches) and Rohit Sharma is equal to his title winning record with 5 titles, then Shreyas is the only captain with whom three different teams played IPL finals. Shreyas Iyer is also one of the few captains who has won 50 matches in IPL.

No foreign captain has achieved such success in IPL. David Warner won 40 out of 83 (48.19 percent), Adam Gilchrist won 35 out of 74 (47.29 percent) and Shane Warne, who won the IPL title in the very first season, won 30 out of 55 matches (54.54 percent). In IPL 2026, when Punjab Kings made a great start without losing even after 7 matches, Shreyas was at an excellent count of 60.43 in the match winning percentage.