Former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu heaped praise on star batter Shreyas Iyer after he scored another crafty half-century in the Champions Trophy match against arch-rivals Pakistan. Iyer has been in incredible form since the ODI series against England and once again became an undisputable starter in the 50-over format for India. The stylish middle-order batter has registered four 40-plus scores in the last five ODI innings, as his presence has provided much-needed stability to the Indian batting line-up.
In the last few months, Iyer has made some technical changes in his batting, which have helped him better tackle the short balls.
Sidhu, who is very vocal about his views and opinion, pointed out one thing that separates Iyer from the rest and which he also proved with his 56-run knock against Pakistan on Sunday.
“There is one thing that separates him from the rest. In skating over thin ice, your safety is speed. This man gives you that speed. See, you look at the pace at which the scoreboard is moving- Pakistan, after the first 34 or 35 overs were 134 or 140-odd. First 10 overs, India was 60-70. And when this man comes, he puts on his skating shoes and is invariably changing gear from the first gear to the fourth gear or the fifth gear and then he comes back. So, he paces his inning. 67 balls, 56. It’s not 95 balls, scoring a 50. So, there are qualities that Shreyas Iyer has,” Sidhu said on JioStar Network.
“Shreyas Iyer very hardworking in the sense…”
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar also lavished big praise on Iyer for putting up hard work when things were not going in his favour and bouncing back well.
“He is somebody who is very hardworking in the sense that he has gone through a lot of challenges. He has missed out playing Test cricket because of some injury concerns and knows the value of playing for the nation. And that’s when, once he got that big performance in the World Cup, there was never a question that who is going to be India’s number four. So, he is a player who is always trying to get better and better,” he added.
He also talked about the control Iyer has gained over his pull shots as he has now overcome the ghosts of the short ball.
“As for his approach against the short ball, I am very happy that earlier he used to back off to the left side and hit towards the offside. But now he is happy to develop a method wherein if he feels that he has to be defensive, he is defensive. And when he wants to attempt the shots, there is a high percentage of shots which he has control over,” he concluded.
