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'Most improved batsman... after a few issues on length': Sourav Ganguly wants Shreyas Iyer back in Test squad for England tour and T20I team

IPL 2025: Shreyas Iyer carried forward his ICC Champions Trophy 2025 form in the IPL 2025 and scored 97 runs from just 42 balls on Punjab Kings debut against Gujarat Titans.

Sports Tak

• Wed • 26 Mar 2025

Shreyas Iyer (C) is congratulated by Sourav Ganguly (R) after their win at the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 29, 2024.

Highlights:

Shreyas Iyer smashed 9 sixes in his 42-ball 97.

Iyer was India's highest run-scorer in ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Iyer has not played a T20I since December 2023 and Test since February 2024.

On Punjab Kings (PBKS) debut, Shreyas Iyer dazzled with the bat as he demolished Gujarat Titans (GT) bowling attack with an unbeaten 42-ball 97 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Riding high on success of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Iyer played fearless cricket as no ploy of Shubman Gill's worked against him. Impressed by his improvement in the last year and overcoming the much-talked-about short ball weakness, former India captain Sourav Ganguly wants him back in the Test and T20I squad as well.

"Shreyas Iyer the most improved batsman in last 1 yr .. ready for all formats . Great to see his improvement after a few issues on length," Ganguly wrote in a post on X tagging the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Iyer's last T20I appearance, statistics and long absence

Iyer's last T20I appearance was against Australia in December 2023, the series right after the ODI World Cup 2023 final heartbreak. In his last T20I appearance, he scored a half-century at no.3 under Suryakumar Yadav's captaincy. However, he was dropped from the T20I squad when captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to the side.

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After the duo helped India win ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and retired, he did not get recalled. Tilak Varma has emerged as the batter at no.3 alongside Suryakumar. Varma scored two centuries on the South Africa tour.

Iyer has played 51 T20Is and scored 1,104 runs from 47 innings, averaging 30.66. He has eight half-centuries and scores at a strike rate of 136.12 in T20Is. Since getting dropped, he led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title.

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Iyer's last Test appearance

Iyer's last Test appearance was against England in February 2024. He suffered an injury and was later dropped from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) annual central contract retainership list for missing a Ranji Trophy match. Since then, he has not been picked in the Test squad despite performances in domestic cricket.

Unlike T20Is, Iyer had a drought of half-centuries in Test cricket. His last Test fifty came against Bangladesh in December 2022. It is yet to be seen whether he is on the radar of selectors for the England tour, especially for his new-found ability to not just tackle short balls but attack them as well.