'Shreyas Iyer at number three': Irfan Pathan picks PBKS captain's batting spot for T20Is against New Zealand

Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan backed Shreyas Iyer to bat at number three in the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which is scheduled to start from January 21. India ODI vice-captain Iyer has been added to India's T20I squad against New Zealand as an injury replacement for Tilak Varma.

Notably, Tilak, who played a crucial role for India in the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan, has been ruled out of the T20I series against New Zealand due to injury.

Irfan Pathan on Shreyas Iyer

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Ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand, in a discussion with Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan lauded Iyer's ability to bat against both spin and pace. He also recalled Iyer's boundary against Bumrah towards the third-man region during and IPL match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians.

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“Shreyas at number three, no doubt. Shreyas has the ability to play spin really well. That is one thing. He can play big shots, stand and deliver, and he can also maneuver the ball really well. But whoever saw him in the last IPL, I think he was playing the fast bowlers exceptionally well. I remember that one shot he played against Bumrah off a yorker.”

“It was a Mumbai vs Punjab match. Bumrah bowled a yorker and he hit it through the off side for four. I mean, surviving Bumrah’s yorker itself is a tough job. This guy is actually taking his time, playing the ball late, and placing it exactly where he wants, especially towards third man. He knows where the fielder is and is creating scoring shots,” said Irfan Pathan on his youtube channel.

India's updated T20I squad vs New Zealand

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Iyer (first three T20Is), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravi Bishnoi