One would wonder why Shreyas Iyer was not part of India’s T20 World Cup squad, despite him being in such great form since the last IPL season. IPL 2026 has been no different for the Punjab Kings skipper as he led the team to a convincing win against Sunrisers Hyderabad by slamming an unbeaten 69 off 33 balls on Saturday. Punjab chased down SRH’s target of 220 runs with seven wickets in hand and seven balls to spare.
Shreyas scored more than 600 runs in the last season of the IPL and also led Punjab to the IPL final for the first time in 11 years. Despite such a strong show the 31-year-old was overlooked by the selectors for the T20 World Cup, which India won earlier this year. The right-handed batter had made his debut in 2017 and had last played a T20I in 2023.
Shreyas’ current form has forced former cricketers such as Manoj Tiwary and Virender Sehwag batting for his inclusion in India’s T20I squad.
“He showed great composure in his batting. If, even after this, he is not selected for the Indian team, we will go on a protest and fight for him. We will try that he gets what he deserves,” Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.
“We have already seen that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have taken retirements. The Indian team needs one player who can help the team win by showing full control and help the team win ICC trophies,” he added.
Sehwag, who was also present in the same show as an expert reiterated to what Tiwary said, and was surprised how was Shreyas not picked in India’s squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
“Shreyas finished the match for his team. He did the same in the previous match. Shreyas has been doing this for a long time. I am surprised that he wasn’t able to get a spot in India’s World Cup team. He did so well in the previous IPL, leading Punjab Kings to the final. I just hope he is able to get a place in the Indian team for the next T20 World Cup,” said Sehwag.
“I will repeat once again that I am surprised that Shreyas wasn’t a part of India’s T20 World Cup team. I hope that he gets his spot in the T20 team after this year and he is able to cement his place,” he added.
In four matches in IPL 2026 so far, Shreyas has scored 137 runs. He has been in good form, averaging 68.50 and scoring quickly with a strike rate of 187.67.
