Shreyas Iyer's Rs 26.75 crore bid briefly made him the most expensive IPL player in history before Rishabh Pant was acquired by LSG for a staggering Rs 27 crore.

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting, on Sunday, confirmed Shreyas Iyer will lead the franchise in the2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ponting's comment came after Iyer was acquired by Punjab for a whopping price of INR 26.

Punjab Kings entered the ongoing IPL 2025 mega auction, which is taking place in Jeddah with the biggest purse. The head coach of Punjab disclosed the rationale behind the team's decision to pass on Rishabh Pant,

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting on Sunday rated Shyreas Iyer, whom they have bought for Rs 26.75 crore in the mega auction, as the ideal choice to lead the team in IPL 2025 as the Indian batter has the experience of guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to tile earlier this year.

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting revealed he is yet to have a word with Shreyas Iyer about captaincy of the franchise and reflected on the possibility of missing out on reuniting Rishabh Pant in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

"We spent a bit of money, but what we're trying to do is rebuild this franchise basically from the ground up," Ponting says on spending big on Chahal and Arshdeep | ESPN.com

While talking to the official broadcaster, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting disclosed that Iyer did not answer his call before the mega-auction.