The Board of Control for Cricket in India, i.e. BCCI, on Friday, January 16, announced some changes in the squad of India vs New Zealand T20 series. Washington Sundar is out of the entire series due to injury, due to which Ravi Bishnoi has been selected. Meanwhile, Tilak Verma will not be able to participate in the first three matches of this 5-match series due to surgery. In his place, Shreyas Iyer has been selected for the first three matches of the T20 series against New Zealand. Shreyas Iyer’s name is a bit surprising as he played his last T20 match for India in 2023. In such a situation, how did he suddenly enter Team India?
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First reason- The selectors and team management have started seeing Shreyas Iyer as a leader. He has been made the vice-captain of the ODI team. Iyer’s record as a captain in IPL and domestic cricket has been quite excellent. In such a situation, if Iyer makes his place in the T20 setup then the team will benefit from it. At present the captain of the T20 team is Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain Akshar Patel. Surya is 35 years old and after this T20 World Cup, India can take steps towards a new leader. In such a situation, Iyer is an excellent option. Second reason – Tilak Verma’s absence would have affected India’s middle order. In such a situation, Shreyas Iyer can prove to be his like-to-like replacement. Iyer bats in the middle order only, he has a lot of experience of batting at number 3 and 4. India can also prepare Shreyas Iyer as a backup to Tilak Verma. If due to some reason Tilak Verma is not able to be fully fit till the T20 World Cup, then BCCI can select Shreyas Iyer in his place in the squad.
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Third reason- Shreyas Iyer is in amazing form at the moment, whether the format is ODI or T20. From domestic to national level, he is continuously scoring runs. His form was amazing in IPL 2025 also. Under his leadership, Punjab Kings reached the final. Shreyas Iyer scored 604 runs in the last IPL season at an average of over 50. Indian T20 team against New Zealand – Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas. Iyer (first three T20Is)
