‘Best Indian Batter In The Middle Overs’: Aakash Chopra Showers Massive Praise On Shreyas Iyer-OxBig News Network

Former India cricketer and one of the most trusted voices of cricket, Aakash Chopra has reserved big praise on Shreyas Iyer, hailing him as the best batter against spinners. Punjab Kings newly made skipper Shreyas Iyer came up with a fantastic knock of 97* (42), including five fours and nine sixes in his innings. The Punjab Kings captain came out to bat after his team lost Prabhsimran Singh, helping his team post a massive total of 243/5 in 20 overs.

Iyer took on Rashid Khan as he hit him for two huge sixes and also Sai Kishore. Iyer’s footwork against spinners was commendable, helping him to reach the pitch of the ball in order to hit maximums. 

“It was just the clean, crisp hitting—especially against spin. I believe he is the best Indian batter in the middle overs when it comes to taking down spinners. Often, batters need to step out to create momentum before hitting over the top, but Shreyas doesn’t require that. This makes it difficult for bowlers to predict his next move. It’s not just his front-foot play; he effectively uses the depth of the crease to deposit deliveries over the mid-wicket fielder. One key observation is how he has slightly opened his stance,” Chopra said on JioHotstar.

Talking about the PBKS vs GT IPL 2025 game, Punjab Kings’ managed to score 243/5 in 20 overs on the back of Iyer’s 97-run knock. Young batter Priyansh Arya gave a solid start with his 47 runs knock and then Shashank Singh played an aggressive cameo of 44 runs off just 16 balls. In reply, Gujarat Titans started off well with Sai Sudharsan scoring 74 runs off 41 balls but then wickets kept falling on the other end and as a result, they were restricted to 232/5 in their 20 overs. Shreyas Iyer was given the Player of the Match as Punjab won the game by 11 runs.