Shreyas Iyer 3.0-The Return of a Contemporary T20 Star

Shreyas Iyer has undergone a huge transformation as a player in the past few years and his experience in the IPL 2025 is a testament to that in itself. From being merely a good spinner of spin bowling Shreyas has now emerged as a complete package who can deal with both pace and spin with force and intelligence. He is now dominating PBKS from the front and demonstrating that he can dominate games in the middle overs as well as finish them. This is a huge shift from the way he was perceived earlier. Although he was a member of India's ODI team he was excluded from numerous T20 matches and was frequently not included in the main plans.

Shreyas began his IPL career in 2015 and received the Emerging Player award. In his initial years he was excellent against spin but struggled against fast bowlers particularly the ones who delivered short balls. His average against spin was extremely high and he used to score quickly but against pace his average was really low. He would get out frequently to short balls and he used to struggle with playing the pull shot correctly. His strike rate declined and he couldn't gain complete command against seam bowlers.

Between 2018 and 2022 he was appointed captain of various teams such as Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders and during this period his style was altered. He played safe shots and put more emphasis on remaining at the crease. His average against fast bowlers increased but his strike rate remained the same. He ceased to play high risk shots and sought more stability. Although this kept him in the innings for longer it also lowered his boundary percentage and attacking potential. He was one of the better batsmen in terms of average but was extremely low when it came to scoring quickly. He also began to defend short balls more and attempted to simply survive instead of score off them.

His coach Pravin Amre has once mentioned that Shreyas was instructed not to play loose shots such as the pull shot and rather attempt to merely defend the bouncers. The strategy was that if he was not getting out to short balls he could play off the rest of the deliveries. Although this was a wise means of remaining safe it also restricted his T20 impact since he was not employing short balls to earn quick runs.

But from IPL 2024 onwards Shreyas shifted once more. He began cutting short balls with confidence. He practiced his foot movement and now gets into a better position to play the pull shot. He remains more side on and makes use of his height in a wiser manner. He has begun scoring big off bouncers and is no longer intimidated to tackle fast bowlers. His average against short balls now stands better than all Indian batters and his strike rate is also one of the highest. In IPL 2025 he has already dominated top fast bowlers like Rabada and Prasidh Krishna with powerful pull shots and hard hits.

But that is not the only thing where Shreyas has worked on. He has worked hard on his game against spin bowlers as well. Between 2018 and 2022 his performance against away spin went down a great deal. He got out frequently to leg spinners and left arm spinners and could not play freely against them. Most teams employed wrist spinners against him and he struggled to read googlies. He averaged low and had a low strike rate as well.

Now all that has changed. Since IPL 2024 he has begun scoring rapidly against left-arm orthodox and leg spin and has only been dismissed once to these kind of bowling. He plays better from the crease and can hit the ball in more regions. He plays more front foot shots and sometimes comes out to play in the 'V'. During a game against Gujarat Titans he attacked Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan who had earlier put the team under pressure. He utilized his reach and timing to strike clean sixes and fours.

His figures while playing off the front foot have increased significantly. From a pre-requisite average of 28 and strike rate of 133 in the previous years he averages 131 and strikes at 196 now. That is an enormous improvement and indicates that Shreyas is not only surviving against spin and pace but dominating both.

He is also guiding PBKS well with good strategies and enthusiasm. With Ricky Ponting as the coach, Shreyas is attempting to bring Punjab into the PlayOffs after a long time. Being a captain is crucial for him but being a middle order batter is more crucial. He provides balance to the team particularly due to the fact that there are hardly any left handers and most of them face issues with short balls.

Although India's T20 team is full of quality players and getting in for Shreyas is difficult, he is proving in IPL 2025 that he possesses all the skills to come back. If he continues in this way he might be a good option for India again. His progress from being merely a spin hitter to a good modern T20 batter is inspirational and proves what hard work and intelligent adjustments can achieve.