Punjab Kings fast bowling coach James Hopes, who has had a long association with Shreyas Iyer in the Indian Premier League, believes the key to the India batter’s recent success is his ability to identify his shortcomings.
“He is very aware of what his perceived weaknesses were over the years, and he comes into this season having nailed them. Once he finds his way back into the Indian team, you will see the batter he is going to be for the rest of his career. A world-class short-form batter and someone who could fit into long-form cricket pretty easily,” Hopes, who has also spent three years with Shreyas as a coach at Delhi Capitals, said.
The former Australian all-rounder also hailed his captaincy, under which PBKS reached the final last year.
“From a captaincy viewpoint, he has got a lot of experience. He was very young when he was captaining Delhi, and he is more experienced; he is very well planned, and he still follows his gut. When he is with the team, he is also one of the boys; he really endears himself to the group,” he said.
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Hopes also explained that the team management always trusted Arshdeep Singh, who repaid the faith with figures of three for 22 against the Mumbai Indians after going wicketless in his first three games.
“It is just about convincing him not to panic, that the world is not ending. He has bowled a certain way for the Indian team, which was required for the T20 World Cup. There were high scores, and there were very defensive-minded bowling approaches, which is what the situation demanded. He came into the IPL, and I think he didn’t start the way he would have wanted to, but there was no panic. At the moment, Arshdeep is our first-over bowler and our senior bowler, and he is a world-class T20 bowler,” Hopes said.
Published on Apr 18, 2026