Shreyas Iyer has transformed Punjab Kings (PBKS) beyond recognition. One of the IPL’s original eight franchises, PBKS has never lifted the title though they came agonisingly close in IPL 2026, falling to RCB in the final. Currently, they sit at the top of the 10-team standings with nine points from five matches four wins and a washout the only unbeaten side in IPL 2026. All four victories have come while chasing, with Iyer personally anchoring three of them with scores of 50, 69*, and 66. The question now is whether that form is enough to force his way back into India’s T20I plans.
A T20I absence masking elite numbers
Iyer last pulled on an India T20I jersey in December 2023. Since then, he has largely been confined to ODI cricket for the national side, with Test appearances few and far between. But his IPL numbers since making the switch from Kolkata Knight Riders to PBKS ahead of IPL 2025 tell a different story entirely.
Among batters with 500-plus runs since IPL 2025, Iyer’s strike rate of 178.14 ranks third behind only Abhishek Sharma (197.9) and PBKS teammate Priyansh Arya (189.45). His average of 53.8 over the same period is equally impressive, third-best in that bracket behind Virat Kohli (55.31) and Jos Buttler (54.92). In terms of volume, his tally of 807 runs places him fifth, behind Kohli (885), Sai Sudharsan (872), and Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill (823 each). The case on paper is hard to ignore. The case in practice, however, is complicated.
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India are back-to-back T20 World Cup champions winning in both 2024 and 2026 leaving precious little room for wholesale changes to a settled, winning combination.
Chawla: “He can actually lead this Indian squad”
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo’s TimeOut show after PBKS dismantled Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Thursday (April 16), India’s 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup winner Piyush Chawla made a forceful case for Iyer and went further than most pundits have dared.
“Well, for me, if I’m the selector, he definitely walks in. Because he’s one of the better players in that middle order. And he has got that cricketing brain on his shoulder, he can actually lead this Indian squad. If you’re looking in future, for me, he walks in definitely,” Chawla said.
Finch flags Australia conditions as a factor
With the next T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia over two years away former Australian captain Aaron Finch, also on the panel, backed Chawla’s assessment and pointed to conditions down under as a reason Iyer’s profile becomes even more relevant.
“The next one [T20 World Cup] is in Australia too, isn’t it? Yes, more than two years. That provides different conditions again. So I think you’re looking at guys who are good players not just in Indian conditions but all around the world. And particularly with some extra bounce as well. So Shreyas would definitely fall into that category,” Finch said. With a two-year window and an Australian surface awaiting, the conversation around Iyer’s T20I future is only just beginning.