IPL 2025: ‘He will be fired up,’ Gavaskar on Shreyas Iyer’s return to Eden Gardens against KKR

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer will hog all the limelight ahead of his team’s away IPL 2025 game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday (Apr 26). After winning perhaps the most exciting match of the season against the defending champions at their den earlier, PBKS will aim to complete a double this time; however, more so for their captain, who has more than a point to prove on his return to the Eden Gardens, per cricketer-turned-broadcaster Sunil Gavaskar.

Iyer was KKR's captain last season, helping them win their third IPL trophy, the third-most by any team in the tournament's history. Although the media and the fans hyped the then-team mentor, Gautam Gambhir, for the team’s success with the BCCI rewarded him by replacing him with Rahul Dravid as Team India’s all-format coach, Iyer’s contribution failed to get the deserved acknowledgement. 

It remained one of the reasons for a fallout between the KKR management and Iyer ahead of the mega IPL auction late last year, as the title holders decided against retaining him in the first place and later did not even bid for him. But as they say, one man’s loss is another man’s gain - someone took advantage of the situation and picked Iyer, with that team being none other than the Punjab Kings.

With the PBKS appointing Iyer’s former Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting as the new franchise boss, he engineered Iyer’s bid, successfully bagging his services for a whopping $3.13m (INR 26.75 crore) – making him the most expensive buy ever, only for Lucknow Super Giants to break the bank for Rishabh Pant later.

Meanwhile, Iyer made early inroads as PBKS' new captain, winning matches and putting his team ahead of others in the playoff race. As things stand, they are fifth on the points table with ten points from eight contested matches, needing another six at least to confirm their last-four berth. With six games remaining, with the next against KKR, PBKS will have plenty at hand to do.

"He will be fired up. And if he had been, you know, I've been out of form, if they had not done well, then one could understand. But the captain of a winning team not being retained will hurt. No question about it, that will hurt," Gavaskar said in a chat with the broadcasters, as quoted by India Today.

Continuing on this, Gavaskar argued that even though the massive IPL auction price might have softened the blow that Iyer took, it remains a consolation for a player of his calibre. 

"Now he's got, he went for much, much more to PBKS, which is fine. That would have given him a little bit of consolation, but nobody wants to be left out, and that is the thing. So clearly, I think he will have a point to prove. Or maybe half a dozen points to prove," Gavaskar added.

Meanwhile, with six points from eight contested matches, KKR sits at the seventh spot on the points table.