“Estaré orgulloso si me incluyen en el equipo indio para el Trofeo de Campeones ICC” – Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has been announced as Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The middle-order batter who lifted the coveted IPL trophy last year with the Kolkata Knight Riders was expected to take over the leadership of PBKS after their skipper, Shikhar Dhawan, retired after the previous season.

However, Shreyas Iyer isn’t focused on IPL at this moment. Currently, he’s aiming to make the India cricket team’s squad for the Champions Trophy and win an ICC trophy after an IPL one. “It will be a proud moment for me if I were to be picked in the Champions Trophy (squad) to represent the country (India),” the batter from Mumbai told ESPNCricinfo. 

Shreyas Iyer ‘ready to bat anywhere’ for India at ICC Champions Trophy

Having made his ODI debut in 2017, it wasn’t until 2022 that Shreyas became a mainstay in the middle order for Team India. Among active players, only Virat Kohli averages more than at number four, where he’s scored nearly 1400 runs at 52. Despite being a specialist middle-order bat, Shreyas feels he’s ready to play anywhere for the team.

“I’m flexible and ready to bat anywhere in the batting order,” Shreyas Iyer added.

As far as his selection is concerned, Shreyas should slot in rather easily. There aren’t many batters who have done so well at number four worldwide, much less for Team India. The same size for success since the ODI World Cup 2023 has been small as well. In the last 14 months, Team India has played just six 50-over games. Considering all of this, Shreyas Iyer should find himself in the 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.

India’s predicted squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah* , Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami*

Traveling reserves: Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh

* = depending on fitness