Shreyas Iyer has 'got real hunger in his eyes' to prove Ajit Agarkar wrong: 'I was actually gutted, but he...'
Shreyas Iyer was among the notable exclusions from the Indian Test team that was picked earlier last month for the upcoming tour of England, but Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting felt the snub left the in-form batter more determined to prove the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee wrong. Ponting's comment came after Iyer became the second captain in history to take Punjab to the IPL final, with the franchise staring at the possibility of ending their long-standing title drought.
Speaking on The ICC Review last week, the former Australia captain admitted that he was gutted not to see Iyer in the Indian Test team but revealed that the India star has accepted the disappointment and moved on from it, to help Punjab win their maiden IPL title.
"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."
Ponting felt that Iyer's strong performance in the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year, where he became India's leading run-getter and second-highest overall, and an impressive outing in the domestic red-ball season were enough for him to crack into the Indian team.
"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."
And, probably it did put Iyer in reckoning for a return to the Test side for the first time since January 2024, when he was dropped midway through the home series against England. However, Agarkar revealed that right now there was no room for him in the 18-man squad.
"Yes, Shreyas Iyer has played well in domestic cricket, but at the moment, there is no room for him on the Test Team," Agarkar said in the presser in Mumbai last month after announcing the Test squad.
Iyer will be seen in action on Tuesday, in the IPL 2025 final against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad.
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