Aakash Chopra reacts to Shreyas Iyer’s leadership role in India’s ODI squad for Australia

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes success in the Indian Premier League as a leader has played a key role in Shreyas Iyer’s appointment as ODI vice-captain. While Shubman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain for the Australia series, Iyer has been named as former’s deputy.

Iyer led Punjab Kings to the final of IPL 2025 and led from the front, scoring 604 runs in the tournament at a strike rate of 175.07. Furthermore, Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to glory in IPL 2024. Earlier, Iyer had also led Delhi Capitals to the final of IPL 2020.

Chopra said the selectors could have thought of giving the vice-captaincy to KL Rahul but they picked Iyer because of his success in the IPL.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “That is big news. The fact that Shreyas Iyer has been made vice-captain proves that IPL performances are valued a lot. KL Rahul could also have been vice-captain. Since 2020, he has been performing consistently, but he doesn’t even seem in contention. Shreyas Iyer was picked as he led KKR to victory in IPL and also took Punjab to the final. He is being seen as a mainstay in the ODI set-up.

“This is part of a transition. The selectors don’t want to look backwards. Hence, they did not go for Rahul. They went for Shreyas, who fits into the scheme of things looking forward,” the 48-year-old went on to add.

Meanwhile, Iyer scored 243 runs in five innings of the Champions Trophy 2025 at an average of 48.60 and a strike rate of 79.41 and thus played a key role in taking India to glory.

The first ODI between India and Australia will be played on October 19.