Leg and Off: Was Shreyas Iyer not given due recognition for KKR's IPL 2024 triumph?

Team India batter Shreyas Iyer is slowly breaking his 'under the radar' and 'silent hero' avatar with some pretty deafening statements on and off the field. Emerging as the leading run scorer for the team in the 2025 Champions Trophy, it proves to be a major turning point in Iyer's career, now that his value is being truly seen.

Another major landmark in his career was the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, where he won the title as captain. Since then, he has won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as Mumbai's skipper, and has been appointed Punjab Kings' captain too.

However, despite leading KKR to their third title and ending their 10-year drought, Iyer feels that his achievement was not given due credit.

"The major focus was to win the IPL, and thankfully, I won it. I personally felt I didn't get the recognition I wanted to after winning the IPL but at the end of the day, as long as you have self integrity and you keep doing the right things when no one is watching, that is more important and that is what I kept doing," Iyer recently said in an interview with the Times of India.

On that note, let us take a look at the reasons why Shreyas Iyer's claims are justified, and a couple of reasons why they are not.

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#1 He is still not a part of India's leadership group despite the IPL triumph

Hardik Pandya led India six months after leading the Gujarat Titans (GT) to the title in 2022. KL Rahul captained India across formats just a couple of years after assuming Kings XI Punjab's captaincy in 2020. Shubman Gill led India a few months after captaining Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024, and is now the ODI vice-captain too.

Shreyas Iyer, who began his captaincy career in the IPL back in 2018, is yet to lead India, and is not even close to assuming the leadership in any format. The ones who have come after him have gone on to assume places in the leadership group, while he arguably remains an outcast.

The stature of the player within the team is also to be taken into account, but Iyer is not far off even in that regard. He is now one of the first names in the team sheet as the certified No.4 (at least in ODIs), but is not on the same pedestal as the rest. There is a thin line between bad timing and efforts not being recognized. Unfortunately for Iyer, he is on both sides of the fence.

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#2 He was not deemed a non-negotiable asset by KKR after IPL 2024

More often than not, captains (youngsters or those in their prime) are the first names on the retention list. Of course, the composition of the squad dictates how franchises proceed with the process, but the captain surely finds a way as the management sacrifices something else. Take Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Pat Cummins, Hardik Pandya, and Sanju Samson for instance.

Shreyas Iyer certainly belongs in this category, if not above, by combining both his contributions as captain and batter. Furthermore, it is the rarest of rare occurrences for a franchise to release their captain right after a winning season.

From KKR's point of view, they arguably had players part of the long-term core, who are deemed indispensable. But, title-winning captains often earn the right to become non-negotiable assets, and the fact that KKR did not pull the switch suggests that Iyer's efforts were not appreciated as much as they should have.

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#3 Iyer's massive price tag with PBKS is not just for his batting

Shreyas Iyer has had a reasonably good T20 career, but in all fairness, it is not his strongest format. He has never been considered a long-term player for India in the format, and has shown shades of inconsistencies as a batter in the IPL. However, what elevates his stock is the captaincy factor.

Helping the Delhi Capitals (DC) qualify for the IPL 2020 final, and winning the title with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), makes him a bankable captain. In fact, he is the most experienced captain in the current roster amid the host of changes in recent times among franchises.

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) broke the bank and beyond at the IPL 2025 auction to avail his services, and it was not purely for his batting ability. A huge factor that drove up the winning bid was his ability as a leader and a captain. Furthermore, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting has seen that particular trait from close quarters when the pair worked together during their time in DC.

This shows that despite Iyer's perception that he was not valued after the title win, he is still highly valued by the people who matter. At times, the direction from which recognition is coming is far more important than the degree of recognition.

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir must also be aware of Iyer's input in KKR's title triumph after watching the same from close quarters during his time as mentor of the franchise. All of this might play a role in the long run for which the price to pay was short-term recognition that might fade away with time.

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#4 His astute captaincy has been acclaimed by notable names

Perhaps the definition of 'recognition' might be different for Shreyas Iyer and the rest, which does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, for it is only natural. Maybe the IPL-winning skipper had different expectations.

Iyer's tactics and captaincy may not have shared the same platform as their explosive opening pair, their ever-reliant spin attack, or their four-pronged pace attack.

However, at the same time, it was not entirely cast aside either. Iyer was praised by fans and pundits alike for using the resources judiciously. Among those who knew the game, there was unanimous approval regarding what Iyer brought to the team with his captaincy,

"To see him go about his captaincy has been fantastic. He's pretty level-headed, pretty calm even when things have not gone our way. He may need to work on his coin tossing in the off-season," Starc said right after KKR's IPL triumph.

So many have even primed him for India's captaincy in the future after the IPL 2024 win. Even though that may or may not transpire, just the fact that it is being deliberated is a huge testament to his achievement and ability.

"I would give a lot of credit to Shreyas. He's been a fantastic captain, very calm and cool. He was receptive to our suggestions and handled the team well on and off the field. With KKR, he showed the qualities which make him worthy for India captaincy in the future," KKR head coach Pandit told The Times of India after Iyer led the team to the title.

"I am going to say it here. He is going to be the future India captain. I think he is next in line, maybe even ahead of Shubman Gill. He has got the character and wherewithal to handle a team. I think there’s a lot he has learnt this season. You have got to understand that he was working with Gautam Gambhir, Chandrkant Pandit and Abhishek Nayar – three very strong personalities," Uthappa said about Shreyas Iyer's captaincy on Jio Cinema (via Hindustan Times).

To conclude, there is certainly an element of truth in Shreyas Iyer's statement, purely by considering how other captains fared and were treated after winning an IPL title. His contribution as captain was also certainly taken for granted considering the team he had, and overshadowed by the individual displays by the star players.