“When people doubt someone like Shreyas Iyer, it’s pretty laughable” – Former CSK batter’s huge remark on India captain amid NZ vs IND 2026 5th T20I

Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu slammed Shreyas Iyer’s critics after his sublime fifty in the fifth T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, November 1. The India captain smashed a 22-ball fifty, playing a massive role in the team’s recovery following an early collapse after being put into bat first for the first time on the tour.

India were 19 for 2 in 3.1 overs when Shreyas Iyer walked out to the crease. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson both departed without recording double figures, as speedster Adam Milne struck with the new ball. The captain and Ishan Kishan replied with a stand of 93 off 43 balls, setting the foundation as India posted 191-8 on the board in the first innings.

Shreyas Iyer had recently hit his maiden T20I hundred against West Indies in the home series last month, but faced a slump after that. Since then, he scored only 155 runs in eight matches at an average of 19.37. His fifty in Hamilton comes at a good time as he closes the series out on a high ahead of the five-match ODI series, where he will lead in the last two matches.

Ambati Rayudu believes that a match-winner like Shreyas Iyer should never be doubted even if the scores do not always follow.

“He has always been in good form. When people doubt someone like Shreyas Iyer, it’s pretty laughable, because whenever he bats, he is a match-winner. He just takes the premier bowlers on, it is not like he is stitching up an innings where he is struggling and then he goes about hitting a few boundaries. He just dominates the innings, he controls the innings, so he is a fantastic, fantastic batter,” Ambati Rayudu said on Cricbuzz.

This marked the fourth time Shreyas Iyer has recorded a fifty since taking over as T20I captain in June ahead of the Ireland and England tour.

“There was a phase where people were targeting him with short balls” – Murali Kartik’s huge praise for Shreyas Iyer’s evolution as a T20 batter amid NZ vs IND 2026 series

Former India spinner Murali Kartik stressed the need for a traditional, technically sound batter in the batting order, who can step up in tricky conditions or in difficult scenarios. He further noted how much Shreyas Iyer has tweaked and changed his technique over the years to adapt to the T20 format.

“There was a phase where people were targeting him with short balls, and you look at the new Shreyas Iyer, he has got the two-eyed stance, an open stance, and he is constantly flapping his bat in the air as a trigger movement. He has worked on what needs to be done, given his own body structure and stance. So, these are things which you look at. There are times where he tries the odd, and sometimes on the given day his changes might not give him the best timing on the given day. But the most important thing is, when you back yourself on sound fundamentals, you are always going to have better days,” Murali Kartik said.

At the time of writing, Shreyas Iyer is leading the troops on the field as India aim to defend the target and close out the T20I series with a win for a dominant 4-1 scoreline.

Edited by Gokul Nair