Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has voiced strong support for Shreyas Iyer’s inclusion in India’s squad for the 2025 Asia Cup, emphasising the batter’s impact in the middle overs. Chopra pointed out that Iyer was one of India’s most consistent performers during the 2025 Champions Trophy, often keeping the scoreboard ticking and alleviating pressure on his teammates.
Shreyas Iyer’s Middle Overs Brilliance Highlighted by Aakash Chopra
The Asia Cup 2025 is set to be held in the UAE from September 9 to 28, with the Indian selectors expected to announce the squad on August 19. Chopra stressed that Iyer’s performances in Rohit Sharma’s title-winning Champions Trophy campaign make him a vital contender for the upcoming tournament.
“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 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.
IPL Success and T20I Record Strengthen the Case
Aakash Chopra also highlighted Iyer’s stellar IPL 2025 season with Punjab Kings (PBKS), where he scored 604 runs in 17 innings at an average of 50.33, including an unbeaten 87 in Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians that propelled PBKS into the final.
“𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑷𝑳. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑺𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒚𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕-𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑰𝑷𝑳 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑻20 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑰𝑷𝑳 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅.
In addition, Iyer has amassed 1104 runs at a strike rate of 136.11 in 47 T20I innings, making him the fifth-highest run-scorer among active Indian T20I players. Chopra added that Iyer’s calmness and maturity in the middle overs will be crucial for India in constructing a solid foundation for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
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