ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Shreyas Iyer backed by legendary Australian captain to have a great tournament

Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has backed India's middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer to have a great Champions Trophy. Ponting feels that Iyer has the game for the slow wickets in Dubai and his spin-hitting reputation serves him well.

Iyer might not be a part of India's Test and T20I teams but is key to the team's ODI plans. He had an excellent ODI World Cup in 2023 where he was among India's top performers of the tournament.

Due to his recent ODI form, he was selected in India's squad for the ODI series against England and the Champions Trophy 2025. He responded well by playing a crucial knock in the first ODI against England.

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Shreyas Iyer backed by Ricky Ponting for the Champions Trophy

While speaking during an episode on The ICC Review, Ricky Ponting backed Shreyas Iyer to have a great time with the bat in the Champions Trophy. Ponting is happy to see Iyer back in India colors and feels that his spin-hitting abilities will help him in the upcoming tournament.

"He's (Shreyas Iyer) got the game that will stand up to the white-ball formats, especially in that part of the world. On those wickets - the slower, lower wickets - he's dynamic on those," Ponting observed.

"We know how good a hitter of spin bowling he is and teams tend not to bowl a lot of spin in India, but at some stage, it's going to come. If Shreyas is out in the middle, then he's as good as anyone. So I'm delighted to see him back in their team," he added.

Both Iyer and Ponting will work together in the upcoming IPL season. Ponting will be the head coach of Punjab Kings while Iyer has been appointed the captain of the team.

Ricky Ponting surprised by Shreyas Iyer's exclusion

While Shreyas Iyer is back in the national colors, he hasn't played international cricket for the past few months as India played only Tests and T20Is. Iyer is not a part of India's squads for either of those formats.

Ricky Ponting is surprised to see Iyer's limited appearances in the past year. He exclaimed that the middle-order batter had a great World Cup but the injuries blocked his career's path.

"I've been a little bit surprised that he's been out of India's side the last couple of years. He had a terrific World Cup back in India where he played beautifully in the middle-order and I actually felt then that he'd almost cemented that spot and made that his own," said Ponting.

"Then he had those couple of injuries, obviously injured his back and went out of the side, but his domestic season this year has been brilliant. It sort of coincided with what he's done since around (IPL) auction time going forward in domestic cricket, he has been pretty much outstanding," he added.

Shreyas Iyer in ODI World Cup 2023

Shreyas Iyer scored 530 runs in 11 matches at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of 113.24 with two hundreds and three fifties. Iyer also struck a brilliant match-winning hundred in the big semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai.

In the first ODI against England, Iyer smashed a quickfire 59 off 36 balls to turn the game in his team's favor. He struck 9 fours and 2 sixes during his knock. He was aggressive against both the fast bowlers and the spinners and displayed some fearlessness in batting.