PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer aims to improve his poor home record in the IPL 2026 opener. Despite leading the team to the final last season, he scored just 27 runs in five home innings, a stark contrast to his 577 runs in 12 away innings.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer will be aiming to overcome a tough run at home in the previous season and make it count at New Chandigarh in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 opener against Gujarat Titans (GT).
Iyer led from the front with the bat and as a leader last season, guiding PBKS to their first final in 10 years, just a season after leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their first title in a decade and overall third trophy.
A Tale of Two Halves: Home vs Away Form
However, the PBKS captain failed to fire at the franchise’s home venue in New Chandigarh. During last year’s season, Iyer could make just 27 runs across five innings at an average of 5.40 and a strike rate of 100.00, with a best score of 10. On the other hand, Iyer was a menace away from home, scoring 577 runs in 12 innings at an average of 82.42 and a strike rate of over 181. He smashed all his six fifties away from home. In the previous season, Iyer had finished as the sixth-highest run-getter with 604 runs in 17 innings at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 175.07, with six fifties and best score of 97*.
Punjab Kings Squad
Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Ben Dwarshuis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Vishnu Vinod, Praveen Dubey, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad. (ANI)
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