Former Australia great makes huge statement on Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer was not sure about his place in the Indian playing XI for the first ODI against England in Nagpur. However, he was included in the playing eleven in the last moment as star batsman Virat Kohli suffered an injury.

Iyer scored a whirlwind half century to help India script a convincing win against the visitors.

In response, former Australia great Ricky Ponting has expressed surprise that Iyer has not been given a permanent slot in India’s white-ball side despite his magnificent form and the ability to dominate spinners on slow subcontinental pitches.

“I’ve been a little bit surprised that he has been out of India’s side in the last couple of years. He had a terrific World Cup back in India (2023) where he played beautifully in the middle-order and I actually felt then that he’d almost cemented that spot and made that his own,” said Ponting during a recent interaction.

Must Read: Ind vs Eng ODIs: Former India star points out major issues with Team India

“Iyer has got the game that will stand up to the white-ball formats, especially in that part of the world. On those wickets -- the slower, lower wickets – he’s dynamic on those. We know how good a hitter of spin bowling he is and teams tend not to bowl a lot of spin at India, but at some stage it’s going to come,” he added.