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According to Chopra, Shreyas Iyer deserves a place in India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad after impressing with his batting in the Champions Trophy and IPL this year.
Shreyas Iyer last played a T20I for India on December 3, 2023. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Shreyas Iyer last played a T20I match for India on December 3, 2023, against Australia in Bengaluru, and in that fixture he scored 53 runs from 37 balls as a No. 3 batter. Despite his super show with the bat in the last shortest format match as an India player, Iyer didn’t get a chance to play again, but he made sure that he made the most of the opportunities that came his way as an India player. He was India’s highest run-getter in the Champions Trophy 2025, and in the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League, he scored 604 runs in 17 matches for Punjab Kings after joining them for Rs 26.75 crore in the mega auction last year.
Iyer’s super show with the bat in 2025 has impressed former India opener Aakash Chopra. According to Chopra, who has now donned the hat of an expert and commentator, Iyer was India’s best batter in the middle overs during the Champions Trophy, and if the selectors consider that form, then he deserves to play for India.
“Shreyas Iyer needs to be spoken about because when we were watching the Champions Trophy, no Indian player was better than him in the middle overs. He was the guy who was taking the attack to the opposition. He was the guy who was hitting boundaries whenever he wished and removing the pressure on the batter at the other end,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“After that came the IPL. There were plenty of pressures. This was Shreyas Iyer’s best-ever IPL season. We have repeatedly seen that T20 selections are based on IPL performances. We have seen that with Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and everyone. If we see it from that token, Shreyas Iyer deserves to play,” he added.
Despite batting for Iyer’s inclusion in the Asia Cup squad, Chopra said that it will be difficult for the right-handed batter from Mumbai to pip Tilak Varma for a place in the playing XI.
“We have built a case that Shreyas’ name should be there, but the truth is that Tilak Varma is playing either at No. 3 or No. 4. Since he started playing at No. 3, he has been unstoppable. Since he bats lower down the order in the IPL, it’s an apple vs orange comparison. If you see his numbers, you feel the guy hasn’t done anything wrong,” he said.
Tilak scored back-to-back centuries for India as a No. 3 batter in T20Is against South Africa last year.
“He (Tilak) also allows us one more thing. You can maintain a left-right combination. Will you drop Tilak Varma from the XI because I believe Shreyas Iyer’s best place to bat is either No. 3 or No. 4? If he goes to No. 5, I think it will be a little too low in T20 cricket, and Surya is at No. 4,” Chopra added.
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