Shreyas Iyer is the first captain in IPL history to stay unbeaten after the first seven games.© BCCI
Shreyas Iyer‘s Punjab Kings have enjoyed an unbeaten start to the IPL 2026 season, winning six out of their first seven games. With six wins and one ‘No Result,’ Shreyas has become the first captain in IPL history to remain unbeaten through the first seven matches of a season. Speaking on Cricbuzz, former India cricketers Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan rated the performance of the PBKS skipper. While Sehwag gave him a perfect 10/10, Zaheer rated RCB captain Rajat Patidar’s leadership ahead of Iyer’s.
While Zaheer acknowledged that PBKS sit atop the points table, he insisted there is always room for improvement. “The strict teacher has given full marks, but the more generous one hasn’t,” Zaheer joked, referring to Sehwag’s uncharacteristically high rating. Sehwag quipped back that his former teammate likely “cut 1.5 marks” because of Iyer’s defeat in the final last season.
During the same discussion, Zaheer praised SRH’s stand-in captain Ishan Kishan for carving out his own identity in the absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins. Kishan led SRH in their first seven matches of the season, securing five wins and conceding only two losses.
“When he took over captaincy at the start of the season, he was following Cummins’ leadership template. After a few games, he came up with his own template and somehow convinced the management to make some changes. They roped in the likes of Sakib Hussain and Praful Hinge into the XI. The change in philosophy as clearly reflected with the team on a winning run,” said Zaheer.
As things stand, PBKS sit atop the points table with 13 points from a possible 14. RCB, SRH, and RR are second, third, and fourth, respectively-all tied on 10 points each. However, the defending champions (RCB) remain ahead in the standings due to their superior net run-rate.
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