“He’s not in the Indian T20I team” - Former captain makes huge statement on Shreyas Iyer after GT vs PBKS IPL 2025 match

Former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed his surprise at Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer not being a regular in the Indian T20I side. Vaughan's remarks came after Iyer started his IPL 2025 campaign with a magnificent 42-ball 97* against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on March 25.

The 30-year-old has been in sparkling form in white-ball cricket, top-scoring for India in their recent 2025 Champions Trophy triumph. Iyer's assault in PBKS' 2025 IPL opener helped the side pull off an 11-run win over GT.

Yet, the middle-order batter has not played T20Is for India since the end of the 2023 season.

Talking about Iyer's knock and his exclusion from the Indian T20I side, Vaughan told Cricbuzz (via Hindustan Times):

"He's a brilliant player. I just keep scratching my head and thinking he's not in the Indian T20I team. It was brilliant. It really was from the first ball when he punched it down the ground. He makes sixes look very easy, and it's certainly not."

He continued:

"And I liked his flicks off the hip to the short ball. But the way he strikes down the ground off the spinners and the one over extra cover, he just gives himself a little bit of space and hits through the line just outside of the off stump."

Iyer boasts a middling T20I record with an average of 30.66 and a strike rate of 136.12 in 51 outings.

"Real worry for the rest of the world" - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan further cautioned the rest of the world against the Indian juggernaut in T20Is, citing how a batter of Iyer's caliber isn't even part of the squad. The Men in Blue have won their last six bilateral T20I series and triumphed in the 2024 T20 World Cup without losing a single outing.

"It's a real worry for the rest of the world that you know this Indian juggernaut. They've won the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and the final of the 50-over World Cup. He played brilliantly in the 50-over World Cup. Just had a little bit of an off day in the final. Where is the next T20 World Cup? It's in Sri Lanka," said Vaughan.

He concluded:

"Then, the next 50-over World Cup in South Africa. I've just watched the T20 tournament in South Africa. Lots of spin, lots of slow wickets. So, it will not be any different for the 50-over World Cup. The rest of the world has got to catch up, and I don't know how, I don't know how they're going to do because this Indian juggernaut has a mass of players, and I reckon you've got 30 odd players that you could choose from. Iyer is right up near the top of that."

India has been in red-hot form in ICC white-ball events, losing only the lone game in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in the last three tournaments. They completed back-to-back titles with the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy win after finishing runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup.