IPL 2022: 3 Teams that might target Shreyas Iyer in mega auction

Shreyas Iyer is one of the finest players to have made a mark in IPL with some remarkable performances on the 22 yards. He started his IPL career with the Delhi franchise (then known as the Delhi Daredevils) in 2015 where he made a statement right away scoring 439 runs averaging 33.76. Iyer did have a couple more good seasons for the team.

But the biggest challenge came his way in the 2018 edition when Gautam Gambhir stepped down from captaincy midway owing to poor results, and the middle-order batter obliged by taking up the responsibility. While he could not do anything exceptional in that season, the results were seen as Delhi achieved greatness in the next couple of years.

Shreyas Iyer led the newly-formed Delhi Capitals to their first-ever playoffs after 2012 in the 2019 season before leading the team to their maiden IPL final in 2020 where they went down to the Mumbai Indians in a one-sided contest. The Mumbai cricketer was all set to lead DC in IPL 2021 before a shoulder injury during the home series against England kept him out of action.

While he did return in the second leg, the franchise did not wish to make any changes in captaincy as wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant had done a phenomenal job in the first leg and they stuck to him.  Meanwhile, Iyer reportedly did not wish to be a part of the Delhi Capitals for IPL 2022 even though he was in the scheme of things but not as a captain.

Here’s a look at the teams who would wish to have Shreyas Iyer in their team in IPL 2022:

1. Punjab Kings

Just like Shreyas Iyer, even KL Rahul was reportedly in the scheme of things of being retained by the PBKS for IPL 2022 but, he asked to release as he wanted to make an impact elsewhere. Now, the current Team India limited-overs vice-captain will be leading the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants in the upcoming season.

While the 2014 finalists have retained star opener Mayank Agarwal, and, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, they have released many big names with the hope of starting afresh in the IPL 2022 auction which means that captaincy is one of the key areas the franchise would be looking forward to sorting out.

Therefore, when Shreyas Iyer’s name will be announced at the auction table, the runners-up of the 2014 edition would be hoping to outbid everyone and try to rope him in for the 15th edition of the cash-rich tournament.