Shreyas Iyer began his tenure as the Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain on a winning note as the one-time finalist won their season opener against Gujarat Titans with an 11-run victory in a high-scoring thriller at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (March 25). Shreyas won the Player of the Match (POTM) award with a flamboyant knock of 97 runs in just 42 balls, which included five boundaries and nine sixes at a strike-rate of 230.95.

The match marked a historic moment in the IPL history as Shreyas became the first IPL-winning captain in the history of the IPL to play for a different franchise in the season after winning the title. The ex-Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper is also only the fifth player and second Indian to lead three different teams in the IPL. Shreyas also captained Delhi Capitals from mid-way to 2018 until the 2020 campaign.

It is worth noting that Shreyas and Sangakkara are the only captains to be named full-time skippers of all three franchises they led. Jayawardene led PBKS for just one match. Similarly, Smith and Rahane led the Warriors and Supergiant's respectively for just a single game.

Shreyas is also the only captain to lead three teams among the 10 franchises that are currently active.

With PBKS's victory in their opening game of the 2025 IPL, Shreyas has etched his name in history and become the first player in IPL history to win on his IPL captaincy debut with three different teams. On his captaincy debut for the Capitals, DC registered a massive 55-run victory against KKR. Later, KKR defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in Shreyas's debut for them in 2022.

Smith registered a victory on his captaincy debut for RPSG and RR against the Mumbai Indians (MI) and DC in 2017 and 2015, respectively. However, PWI suffered a defeat in Smith's IPL captaincy debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2012.

As far as Sangakkara is concerned, PBKS (then Kings XI Punjab) lost to DC on his captaincy debut in 2010. The Chargers suffered the same fate in Sangakkara's first match, leading them with a defeat against RR in 2011. However, the Sri Lankan captain led SRH to a victory in the franchise's first-ever match in 2013 against PWI.

Meanwhile, PBKS lost to MI only when they played under Jayawardene's leadership. Similarly, the Tuskers lost their first-ever match in which the Sri Lankan legend was their captain. He became the first captain to lose all on his captaincy debut with all three franchises after DC lost to RCB in his first match leading the franchise in 2012.

With KKR's defeat against RCB on Saturday (March 22), Rahane became the second captain to lose on his captaincy debut with all three franchises. Previously, RR lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by nine wickets in their opening game of the 2018 season under Rahane's captaincy. In their only match playing under Rahane, RPSG were defeated by DC by 97 runs in 2017.

Shreyas' Dream Run With Bat On Captaincy Debut

Quite incredibly, Shreyas remained not-out on his captaincy debut for all three franchises. He made a 40-ball 93 for DC against KKR, while he made a 19-ball 20 for KKR vs CSK. The star Indian batter is the first player to half-centuries and win the Player of the Match (POTM) award on captaincy debut for two different franchises. Shreyas' knocks in his first match for PBKS and DC are also the two highest scores of his IPL career.

Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Venue	Year
Sanju Samson	Rajasthan Royals	Punjab Kings	119	Mumbai	2021
Mayank Agarwal	Punjab Kings	Delhi Capitals	99*	Ahmedabad	2021
Shreyas Iyer	Punjab Kings	Gujarat Titans	97*	Ahmedabad	2025
Shreyas Iyer	Delhi Capitals	Kolkata Knight Riders	92*	Delhi	2018
Faf du Plessis	Royal Challengers Bengaluru	Punjab Kings	88	Navi Mumbai	2022

Shreyas also become the first captain in IPL history to score a half-century with three different franchises. While Rahane has reached the milestone while leading KKR and RR, he did not manage the feat in his only match leading RPSG. Similarly, Smith reached the milestone as captain for both RR and RPSG but not for PWI. Sangakkara never managed a half-century for SRH, while Jayawardene failed to achieve the feat as PBKS skipper.

It is worth noting that Shreyas holds the record for being the only captain in IPL history to lead two different teams to an IPL final. Apart from the triumph with KKR last year, he led DC to their first and only till date in 2020 in which they lost to MI.

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