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As IPL 2026 approaches the half-way mark, there is once again chatter about bringing Shreyas Iyer back into the T20I side. In fact, there are talks to replace Suryakumar Yadav with Shreyas as T20I skipper. In the midst of all this, former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has come out in support of Shreyas and said the 31-year-old had a right to feel angry after being ‘unfairly snubbed’.

In 2024, only months after Shreyas did well in the 2023 ODI World Cup, that the BCCI removed him from the central contracts list. The reason was because he did not play domestic games which Shreyas later revealed was due to an injury. He made it back to the ODI setup after leading KKR to the IPL title and did well in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Sanjay Manjrekar Not Impressed with Shreyas Iyer’s Treatment

"They decided not to give him a contract, and that may have hurt him. He started turning up for Mumbai and then made a comeback for India against England in a one-day series, culminating in the Champions Trophy where he was superb. Then came this IPL performance, yet he still wasn’t picked," Manjrekar said in a podcast with Sportstar.

After that, Shreyas made 603 runs in the IPL and took PBKS to the final. It was his best season personally. But it was not enough to return to the T20I squad. Shreyas missed out on the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup in 2026.

© X/IPL

"If that performance doesn’t get you into the Indian team—a player like Shreyas Iyer, batting down the order, where the roles are toughest—it is just unfair. If he has that angst towards someone for giving him that kind of a deal, I think it’s valid," he added.

In the ongoing IPL 2026, Shreyas has made 208 runs at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 182.46. He has not played T20Is for India since late 2023 and surely it’s time to bring him back. A maiden IPL title seems to be loading for PBKS as they top the table with 39 games left. Their next match is vs DC on April 25.