Ever since he was kicked out from BCCI‘s central contract list last year, Shreyas Iyer seems to be a man on a mission to prove his critics wrong. He captained Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL triumph last year before overseeing his domestic team Mumbai’s title winning run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. And then recently, he played a key role in helping India win the Champions Trophy unbeaten. Continuing his rich vein of form, Iyer started his IPL 2025 with a brilliant match-winning innings of 97 not out for his new franchise Punjab Kings earlier this week. And it has drawn attention of the legendary Sourav Ganguly who has sent a clear message to BCCI: bring back Iyer in Test and T20I squads. “Shreyas Iyer the most improved batsman in last 1 yearr .. ready for all formats. Great to see his improvement after a few issues on length,” Ganguly posted on X (formerly Twitter) after PBKS defeated Gujarat Titans in a high-scoring IPL contest held in Ahmedabad. Shreyas iyer the most improved batsman in last 1 yr .. ready for all formats . Great to see his improvement after a few issues on length @ShreyasIyer15 @bcci — Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) March 25, 2025 Iyer and Ishan Kishan were reportedly not handed the central contracts by the BCCI for missing domestic matches for their respective domestic teams. It was right after the board had advised India cricketers to play domestic cricket whenever they are available. Iyer was released by KKR ahead of the IPL mega auction last year following which PBKS roped him for an eye-popping Rs 26.75 crore. Iyer was further praised for his selfless approach after it was revealed he told PBKS teammate Shashank Singh to go for his shots during towards the end of their innings against GT and not worry about him missing out on potential hundred. During a chat with the broadcasters, Shashank recalled the message Iyer gave him during the death overs: “Don’t think about my hundred. Just hit as many boundaries as you can.” Shashank obliged and blasted an unbeaten 16-ball 44 to help PBKS rack up 243/5 – total that proved beyond GT’s reach.