Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has sent a strong message to the national selectors, suggesting that Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer’s absence from India’s T20 setup and leadership group is a loss for the team, not the player.
Iyer has not been part of India’s T20 side since December 2023 and was excluded from the country’s T20 World Cup-winning squads in both 2024 and 2026.
“If a player like Shreyas Iyer is still not in the scheme of things (T20 side) or the leadership group, then it’s not his loss it’s our (India’s) loss,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin’s strong backing for Iyer’s T20I return comes after Punjab Kings’ dominant win over Mumbai Indians on Thursday, where Iyer scored a match-defining 66 off just 35 balls.
Iyer has been consistently performing in domestic cricket as well. The Mumbai-born batter led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third Indian Premier League title in 2024, their first in over a decade, and then guided Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He has continued that form with his new franchise, Punjab Kings, in the ongoing IPL season.
