The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced some changes to the squads for the India vs New Zealand T20I series on Friday, January 16th. Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the entire series due to injury, resulting in Ravi Bishnoi being selected.
Here are the 3 reasons for Shreyas Iyer’s inclusion in India’s T20I squad
Tilak Verma will be unable to play in the first three matches of the five-match series due to surgery. Shreyas Iyer has been selected in his place for the first three matches of the T20I series against New Zealand. Shreyas Iyer’s name is a bit surprising because he last played a T20I for India in 2013. So, how did he suddenly enter Team India?
The selectors and team management have begun to view Shreyas Iyer as a leader. He has been appointed the vice-captain of the ODI team. Iyer has a stellar record as a captain in the IPL and domestic cricket. Therefore, if Iyer establishes his place in the T20 setup, the team will benefit. Currently, the T20 team is captained by Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain by Axar Patel. Surya is 35 years old, and after this T20 World Cup, India may move towards a new leader.
In such a situation, Iyer is an excellent option. Tilak Varma’s absence would impact India’s middle order. In such a situation, Shreyas Iyer could prove to be a like-for-like replacement. Iyer bats in the middle order and has considerable experience batting at numbers 3 and 4. India could also develop Shreyas Iyer as a backup for Tilak Varma. If, for some reason, Tilak Varma is unable to regain full fitness for the T20 World Cup, the BCCI could select Shreyas Iyer in his place in the squad.
Shreyas Iyer is currently in excellent form, whether it’s ODIs or T20s. He’s consistently scoring runs at both the domestic and national levels. He was also in excellent form in IPL 2025, leading the Punjab Kings to the final. Shreyas Iyer scored 604 runs at an average of over 50 in the last IPL season.