“Paaji kya haal-chaal, sab badhiya?” - Shreyas Iyer gifts spikes to net bowler ahead of IND vs NZ 2025 Champions Trophy match [Watch]

Team India batter Shreyas Iyer gifted spikes to a net bowler in a practice session ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy match against New Zealand in Dubai. The Men in Blue have already qualified for the semi-final along with the Kiwis from Group A, while Pakistan and Bangladesh were knocked out following poor performances.

India and New Zealand will play on Sunday (March 2) to finalize the Group A points table, which would determine their semi-final opponents. The Men in Blue have been training intensely in the nets to get ready for the contest over the past few days.

During one of the net sessions, Shreyas Iyer interacted with Jaskiran Singh, who is part of the ICC net bowling team for the Champions Trophy. The 30-year-old batter gifted Jaskiran a pair of shoes after confirming his size.

Opening up about the moment, Jaskiran Singh said (via PTI News):

"I am a part of the ICC net bowling team for the Champions Trophy. Today was one such special moment of my life. Received these spikes from Shreyas Iyer. I was fielding at long-off when Shreyas bhai came up to me and asked, "Paaji kya haal-chaal, sab badiya? What's your shoe size? I said 10, and then he said I've got something for you and he gave me these spikes and it really means a lot. In this tournament I've fielded for them but was waiting for an opportunity to bowl to them."

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"I feel Shreyas Iyer is under-appreciated at times" - Aakash Chopra ahead IND vs NZ 2025 Champions Trophy clash

Former cricketer Aakash Chopra recently opined that Shreyas Iyer is underappreciated, considering his phenomenal consistency for Team India, especially in ODIs while batting in the middle order.

Speaking on the matter in his YouTube video, Chopra stated:

"I feel Shreyas Iyer is under-appreciated at times. He has been scoring runs. He was tested in Tests with bouncers. Then it seemed like it was an obvious weakness and he also got injured after that and went out, but before that, he scored 500 runs in the ODI World Cup he played. His story is extremely interesting."

He continued:

"Sometimes he is at the center of things and is totally out of the team on other occasions, and isn't appreciated that much. However, he has been playing well. He batted beautifully against Pakistan. He was batting beautifully when he was playing against England before that. Give credit where it's due. I feel we don't appreciate him enough."

After a failure (15) against Bangladesh in the opening match, Shreyas Iyer hit a responsible half-century against Pakistan. He played a vital role in India winning their second game in the 2025 Champions Trophy.