India’s Test team was announced for England Tour which will start from June 20 but one of the most shocking exclusion was of Shreyas Iyer who is currently leading Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2025. The exclusion has left many in dilemma including the PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting who believes that Shreyas Iyer is determined to prove Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee wrong. Ponting mentioned this after Shreyas Iyer guided Punjab in IPL 2025 final after defeating Mumbai Indians in a thrilling match.
“I actually was gutted…but he’s accepted that really well and he’s moved on,” Ponting said. “He’s just got that real hunger in his eyes to do well every time that he plays for us here and wants to win games of cricket and wants to evolve and develop into the best leader and captain that he can be.” Ricky Ponting spoke on ICC Review last week
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“Certain other players that have been picked in that (Test) squad have done it on the back of good first-class cricket and good IPL seasons leading up to that selection and Shreyas has done absolutely everything the same as some of those other players,” Ponting noted.
“So I was disappointed that he didn’t get picked as I actually felt that he would get picked. But he didn’t. And I think that probably makes him a little bit hungrier for us when these playoff games come around.”
Shreyas Iyer has been captaining exceptionally well, he has led three different teams into IPL Final and is now the first captain to achieve this feat. His 87 runs knock against Mumbai Indians ensured that PBKS were through into the final of IPL 2025. He single handedly carried the team and now is aiming to end the trophy drought for Punjab.
