Shreyas Iyer knocking on India’s T20 door, becomes FIRST player to achieve THIS feat
New Delhi: Just months after leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) title, Shreyas Iyer added another achievement to his career on Sunday (December 15), captaining Mumbai to victory in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).
In a thrilling summit clash, Mumbai triumphed over Madhya Pradesh by five wickets at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, with 13 balls to spare. Rajat Patidar’s stunning knock of 80 off just 41 balls went in vain as Ajinkya Rahane (37 off 30), Suryakumar Yadav (48 off 35), and Suryansh Shedge (36 off 15) powered the Indian domestic cricket giants to their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.
Shreyas Iyer Creates History
Shreyas Iyer made history by becoming the first captain to win both the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) titles. Remarkably, he achieved this feat in the same year.
All Captains To Win Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy And IPL
Shreyas finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the tournament, amassing 345 runs in nine games at an average of 49.28, including one century.
Here is a table listing all the captains who have won both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the Indian Premier League (IPL)
| Year | SMAT | IPL |
| 2007 | Dinesh Karthik | NA |
| 2008 | NA | Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals) |
| 2009 | NA | Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) |
| 2010 | Rohit Atwani (Maharashtra) | MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
| 2011 | Bengal (Manoj Tiwari) | MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
| 2012 | Baroda (Pinal Shah) | Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) |
| 2013 | Gujarat (Parthiv Patel) | Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) |
| 2014 | Gujarat (Manpreet Waghmonde) | Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) |
| 2015 | Uttar Pradesh (Suresh Raina) | Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) |
| 2016 | East Zone (Manoj Tiwari) | David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) |
| 2017 | Delhi (Pradeep Sangwan) | Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) |
| 2018 | Karnataka (Manish Pandey) (2018-19) | MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
| 2019 | Karnataka (Manish Pandey) | Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) |
| 2020 | Tamil Nadu (Dinesh Karthik) (2020-21) | Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) |
| 2021 | Tamil Nadu (Vijay Shankar) | MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
| 2022 | Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai) | Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans) |
| 2023 | Mandeep Singh (Punjab) | MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
| 2024 | Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders) | Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders) |
The 30-year-old is the first captain in IPL history to be released in the season following a title win. Shreyas became the second-most expensive player in the cash-rich league’s history during the 2025 IPL Mega Auction, when he was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Rs. 26.75 crore. While an official announcement is pending, Shreyas is set to be named the captain of the 2014 runners-up.
This will make Shreyas the first Indian to become the permanent captain of three different IPL teams. He remains the only player in history to lead two different teams to an IPL final, having also guided the Delhi Capitals (DC) to their maiden summit clash in 2020.