Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that Shreyas Iyer will soon be making his comeback to T20Is following his exploits in the IPL. This statement comes amid Shreyas' unprecedented rise in ODIs that has seen him become the Men in Blue's vice-captain in the format. The 31-year-old will be acting as Shubman Gill's deputy in the upcoming three-match series against Australia that is set to commence from October 19.
However, things aren't the same when it comes to T20Is as Shreyas has not made a single appearance in the format since December, 2023 and has been repeatedly snubbed from assignments despite his brilliant batting performances in IPL. Notably, Iyer had scored 604 runs in IPL 2025 for the Punjab Kings and had captained the side to the final. But, ev en this type of performance wasn't enough for the selectors to show faith in him.
Kaif optimistic about Iyer's T20I return
Though there is no guarantee as to when or if the selection committee will consider Iyer for the T20I squad, Kaif feels that the former won't have to wait for much longer to make his return to the shortest format for India.
"Great to catch up with Shreyas Iyer. What a player. Hundred on Test debut, 2023 ODI World Cup hero, only captain to lead 3 IPL teams to final. T20 national call-up too will come, Hang in there, a great future awaits you, Shreyas," Kaif wrote in a post on X.
Shreyas' numbers in T20Is
Meanwhile, Shreyas does have quite a bit of experience when it comes to representing India in T20Is as he has so far made 51 appearances for the team. He has a total of 1104 runs under his name when it comes to the format, including 8 half-centuries and the highest individual score of 74*. He was a key part of the Men in Blue's T20I set-up for quite some time, but hasn't been able to make his return for over a year now.