Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin stated that Shreyas Iyer, who is India’s current No. 4 batter in ODIs, is someone who chases excellence and is a champion batter in the making for the country.
Iyer had a rough start to his WC campaign this year, starting off with a duck against five-time champions Australia. And over the next five innings as well, his form was subpar. He mustered one undefeated fifty against Pakistan at Ahmedabad, but this was followed by three more disappointing innings.
The naysayers had almost written off Iyer, calling out his inability to play the short ball and were imploring the team to try out other options.
Iyer then went on a rampage over the next five matches, scoring two half-centuries and an undefeated 128* off 94 balls in India’s final group stage match against Netherlands, and a quickfire 105 off 70 balls, which solidified his role in the team.
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Speaking on his YouTube channel about Iyer’s specialties that set him apart, Ashwin said, “Batting against spin and taking them down is Shreyas’ specialty and he is a standout performer. Chasing excellence is a rare commodity in sports. If somebody does something unique, people, instead of appreciating it, tell them not to do it.”
A specific area of critique Iyer was receiving quite a bit of slack for initially was his technique when it came to play the short ball.
But, following his first century in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Iyer helped his doubters shed all notions they may have held on to his way of facing the short ball.
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Ashwin, as well, spoke to Iyer’s dedication to always bettering his craft, pointing out the way he bounced back from the critique and conquered the short ball.
“What I love about Shreyas is that he chases excellence, he took a note to master the pull shot and worked on it. He got out on it but look at the number of balls he put away to the boundary?
“Balls were sent to the midwicket region and behind square, which shows he is ready for that ball. He hit fast bowlers above mid off, definitely the sign of a champion batter developing for India,” Ashwin said.
Iyer unfortunately could not produce much in the World Cup final as he was beaten by Pat Cummins for a meagre 4 runs, enroute to the Australia’s sixth World Cup trophy. But, his future in the Indian side is definitely not going to be a point of concern for him anytime soon.
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