Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has added that Shreyas Iyer had a great show for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2025, barring the games against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as well. However, he wondered whether there was an available position for the PBKS captain in India’s batting order for the upcoming 2025 Asia Cup as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “That is a phenomenal question. No one is answering this question and everything else is being spoken about. Of course, you want him to play. Indian cricket’s beauty is that it has a lot of talent. So many people look ready that if someone were to play, he would change the game. Shreyas Iyer can do that.”

“If you see his recent IPL performance, he came after sorting out his short-ball problem. He has opened up his stance a little and started hitting very well towards midwicket and long-on. If you leave aside the RCB matches, he has been absolutely outstanding. He took the team to the final,” he further added.

READ HERE: “The reality is I was tired” – Jasprit Bumrah on not celebrating five-fer

“However, the truth is also whether a place is there. Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav are already doing well. How will you move any of them? The truth is that when Tilak asked Surya to play him at No. 3, he was played and he scored two hundreds. Surya lost his place. They were flip-flopping between them. So there is no place till No. 4,” he again shared.

However, Aakash Chopra also stated that Shreyas Iyer does not have a vacant place available at No. 5 or below either.

“Should Shreyas Iyer be there for No. 5 because we want to play Hardik at No. 5? There is Nitish Kumar Reddy as well, and we don’t know what would happen to Rinku Singh down the order. No one has made any mistake. If you don’t want to include Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal, the same thing might apply to Shreyas Iyer as well. I know it looks a little unfair, but you need to wait for your time. He might come in the 15, but should Shreyas not play if he is part of the team? He is not the one to be made to sit on the bench,” Aakash Chopra concluded.