Former players including Virender Sehwag were surprised when Shreyas Iyer was left out from India’s 2026 T20 World Cup squad, after he had led Punjab Kings to their first IPL final in 11 years in 2025, where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
The buzz for his inclusion in India’s T20I setup and also appointing him as the captain has already started doing the rounds. Shreyas is being credited for leading PBKS really well in the IPL 2026 season where the side has remained unbeaten in six matches, proving his credentials as a captain.
However, former India pacer Zaheer Khan had a word of caution for Shreyas and urged him to focus on his game and not get distracted by the outside noise. Speaking on Cricbuzz, Zaheer said that the Punjab Kings skipper should first think of earning a spot in the Indian team.
“First, being part of the T20 setup will be on his mind. Captaincy, I am not sure if he is thinking about that right now. He can be a contender in due course because he has been captaining franchises for a while now and has been successful. So, he clearly has that mindset,” Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
“When you are looking at the Indian T20 setup, I think he must be thinking first and foremost of making an impact with his performances as just a player to secure a spot. Once you are in the squad, then the rest of the things are up to how the team management is looking at things,” he added.
In their last match on Sunday, Punjab put on a dominant show, beating Lucknow Super Giants by 54 runs in Mullanpur. Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly led the charge with brilliant knocks of 93 and 87 respectively, helping PBKS pile up a massive 254 for 7, the highest total in this IPL season so far.
