‘Shreyas Iyer should focus on performance first’ – Zaheer Khan:Tilak Varma credits Hardik Pandya for his maiden IPL century, says, ‘He was charged up’

Shreyas Iyer has become one of the biggest talking points in IPL 2026 due to his excellent performances and leadership for Punjab Kings. Meanwhile, BCCI is considering the Punjab captain to lead Team India in the T20I format. Former India pacer, Zaheer Khan backs Shreyas and advised to focus on his performance first. Tilak Varma shared his experience how Hardik Pandya pushed him and charged him up for the performance on the field against Gujarat Titans. Under Iyer’s captaincy, PBKS have shown consistency and confidence, which has impressed fans and experts alike. His form with the bat has also been outstanding, making many question why he is still not part of India’s T20I setup. Punjab is currently at the top of the standings, winning all their matches so far in this season. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 45-ball century highlighted the show against GT last night. Mumbai defeated Gujarat by 99 runs. With this victory, MI recorded their fourth biggest viuctory in the history of the tournament. ‘Focus on performance first’: Zaheer Khan’s advice to Shreyas Iyer Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has shared his views on Iyer’s situation. While he acknowledged Iyer’s leadership abilities, he advised the batter to focus on making a strong return as a player first. While speaking to Cricbuzz on Shreyas’ captaincy, he said, “First, being part of the T20 setup will be on his mind. Captaincy, I am not sure if he is thinking about that right now. He can be a contender in due course because he has been captaining franchises for a while now and has been successful. So, he clearly has that mindset,” Zaheer said. “When you are looking at the Indian T20 setup, I think he must be thinking first and foremost of making an impact with his performances as just a player to secure a spot. Once you are in the squad, then the rest of the things are up to how the team management is looking at things,” he added. Shreyas’ impressive IPL record but no India recall Shreyas Iyer’s recent IPL record has been strong. He scored over 600 runs in the 2025 season and guided Punjab Kings to the final. Before that, he also led Kolkata Knight Riders to an IPL title-winning campaign. Despite these achievements, he was not selected for India’s T20 World Cup squad. This decision surprised many, especially given his consistency and leadership qualities in franchise cricket. Now, with his current form matching a dip in performances from Suryakumar Yadav, discussions have started about a possible comeback and even a future leadership role in the Indian T20 team. Tilak Varma shared his experience with Hardik Pandya Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’, Mumbai Indians’ batter Tilak Varma spoke on what MI Captain Hardik Pandya said to him in the animated time-out chat. He said, “As everyone knows, Hardik bhai is very energetic. He was charged up and kept saying, ‘You can do it, you will do it,’ to boost me. I just asked him to calm down because I needed to stay focused, and I assured him that I would take care of the rest.” “It was very important for the team and for me. Over the last four or five games, the one thing constantly running through my head was that I hadn’t spent much time in the middle and hadn’t faced many balls, so my aim was to spend some time at the wicket and then adapt according to the team’s situation, he added further.” He concluded, “I am grateful that it worked out that way. However, we shouldn’t look too far ahead and should take one match at a time. Every game is almost like a knockout for us. We know what we are capable of, having several World Cup winners in the side, experienced players, and the skills we possess. If we execute well, we can be unstoppable. So, it is important to keep our heads down and continue working hard.”