Hardik Pandya vs Shreyas Iyer- Who is the better captain in this IPL?

Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer are two of the best captains in Indian cricket at the moment. Both of them have impressive captaincy records in white-ball cricket.

The 30-year-old Shreyas led an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise for the first time in April 2018. He replaced Gautam Gambhir as the Delhi Capitals (then known as Delhi Daredevils) captain mid-way through the 11th season. The franchise finished at the foot of the table. However, Shreyas showed his captaincy prowess in the following season, taking the Capitals to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Under his leadership, the franchise made it to the finals for the first time in 2020, where they lost to Mumbai Indians.

However, Shreyas' biggest achievement as a captain in the IPL came last year when he led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title. He was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction, and he joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a whopping INR 26.75 crore.

The Mumbai batter has led PBKS from the front in IPL 2025. Under his reign, PBKS has picked up 16 points from 12 matches, with seven wins and three defeats in their kitty. A win in the abandoned clash against Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala would have made Punjab the first team to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2025.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya started captaining in the IPL in 2022 after being roped in by the Gujarat Titans (GT). He led the team to the title in his first season in charge. This was also a remarkable achievement as the Titans were only playing their first IPL season.

In the following season, Hardik led capably once again and took the team to the finals. They lost the summit clash against Chennai Super Kings off the last ball. The Baroda all-rounder could have been the first captain to win IPL titles in his first two seasons at the helm.

Hardik moved to Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2024 and replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the five-time champions. This move was met with immense criticism as Rohit's fans felt that the Nagpur-born wasn't given sufficient respect for his contributions to the franchise. Hardik couldn't win back the hearts of the fans as MI finished last on the points table. They had only four wins and 10 defeats from 14 games.

However, MI kept faith in the Choryasi-born and he has delivered in IPL 2025. After a worrisome start, with four losses from the first five games, MI have moved to No. 4 on the points table with 14 points in the bank. MI have won seven matches and lost five so far in the tournament. Their remaining games are against PBKS and Delhi Capitals.

How have Shreyas and Hardik performed?

Shreyas has amassed 405 runs from 12 matches at an impressive average of 50.63 and a commendable strike rate of 180.81. He has registered four half-centuries, including a highest score of 97* against Gujarat Titans off just 42 balls in Ahmedabad in PBKS' first game of the season.

Also Read: Shreyas Iyer vs Shubman Gill: Who deserves to be the next India captain?

On the other hand, Hardik has blown hot and cold with the bat but has fared well with the ball. The 31-year-old has scored 158 runs from eight innings at an average of 26.33 and a strike rate of 168.09. He is yet to notch up a half-century. Meanwhile, with the ball, he has picked up 13 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 19.77 and a strike rate of 12.92. His best outing with the ball came against Lucknow Super Giants when he bagged a five-for in Lucknow.

Both Shreyas and Hardik have led their respective sides brilliantly. It is hard to pick one of them as the better leader this season. However, Hardik has had a more experienced side at his disposal, especially with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah in his lineup.