India’s middle order batter Shreyas Iyer had a fantastic Champions Trophy where he emerged as his team’s most consistent batter of the tournament. However, former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar is still not impressed with his knock in the final against New Zealand.

Vengsarkar also shed light on India’s batting order which saw the allrounder Axar Patel at No. 5 ahead of KL Rahul, who was pushed down the order to No. 6. Vengsarkar is not impressed with Axar batting ahead of Rahul despite the pair proving to be successful recently.

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Dilip Vengsarkar not pleased with Shreyas Iyer

During a conversation with PTI, Dilip Vengsarkar praised Shreyas Iyer for his performance in the Champions Trophy but feels that the batter should have stayed till the end to finish the game.

“(Shreyas) Iyer did very well but I am not happy [with] the way he got out in the final. He should have continued till the very end and finished the game. But happy to see him realise his potential,” Vengsarkar said.

Shreyas Iyer scored a useful 48 off 62 balls in the final on a Dubai pitch that was offering help to New Zealand’s spinners. He also stitched an excellent partnership with Axar Patel to bail India out of huge trouble at a crunch time.

However, he got out to New Zealand’s captain Mitchell Santner in a bid to up the scoring rate. But the rest of the batters ensured that India crossed the line safely in the end with one over to spare.

Shreyas Iyer in Champions Trophy 2025

Shreyas Iyer scored 243 runs in five matches during the Champions Trophy at an average of 48.60 and a strike rate of 79.41 with 2 fifties. He batted superbly in the middle overs when the pitch got tough to bat on.

Iyer showed his experience and maturity and helped in taking India out of trouble on various occasions. He also emerged as the second-highest run-getter of the tournament, just behind Rachin Ravindra.

He came into the tournament under a lot of pressure because of the questions over his position in the Indian team. But the tournament turned out to be a memorable one for him.

Dilip Vengsarkar on KL Rahul batting below Axar Patel

While speaking further, Dilip Vengsarkar spoke about Axar Patel batting ahead of KL Rahul. He wasn’t convinced by this idea and feels that despite the success, Rahul must bat at No. 5 given his batting potential.

“KL (Rahul) too played a few important innings at number six but (I am) still not convinced (about) Axar Patel batting ahead of him at five. The left-hand right-hand combination could be the only reason,” he added.

Axar Patel batted at No. 5 throughout the ODI series against England and the Champions Trophy. His promotion isn’t something new as he has been preferred to bat up the order given his potential and also to maintain the left-right combination in the middle.

India have a strong batting order but unfortunately doesn’t have any left-handers in the top six. But Axar provided that option in the middle overs which helped the team tackle the legspinners and the left-arm spinners comfortably.