Aakash Chopra and Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source : Twitter)
Indian Premier League 2024 comes as a golden opportunity for several cricketers, as they can prove their mettle on the grandest of all T20 spectacles. Several players have been inducted into the national side based on their exploits in this domestic extravaganza. This year around, even the international cricketers would be eying as a stage for a resurgence. Speaking of those players, Shreyas Iyer does fall in that category.
Iyer has been walking in and out of the Indian dressing room for quite a while now. Whenever the cricketer is going through a rough patch, an injury summonses him to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. His reluctance to play domestic cricket despite BCCI’s command has already cast shadows on his selection prospects. As a result, Aakash Chopra believes that the impending IPL could be a game-changer for the Kolkata Knight Riders captain to prove his case for a T20I berth.
“Shreyas Iyer – you are out of the T20I list at this point in time. However, you can come back on the back of a fantastic IPL. If he does well, scores more than 550 runs, which he can probably score, how will anyone ignore him? Then you will say that he should be kept in the team as he is a mighty player. At this point in time, he is out of that loop. At some stage, he can come back in, but for that, the IPL needs to be extremely good. So a great opportunity,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Also Read: IPL 2024: Captain Shreyas Iyer joins Kolkata Knight Riders squad
I see a big opportunity for Suyash Sharma: Chopra
KKR boast an array of talents who possess the potential for India selection. One such find has to be Suyash Sharma. The spinner bagged wickets in 11 games at an impressive economy of 8.23 in IPL 2023. His ability to take wickets is further endorsed by the fact that, only Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine were ahead of him in terms of wickets. Chopra felt that the youngster can make it happen for KKR this season.
“I see a big opportunity for Suyash Sharma to just grow in strength and stature. It was the first season last time and he impressed a lot. However, second-season blues is a real problem. So it will be worth watching how he utilizes that opportunity,” he added.