Shreyas Iyer has been complimented by former Indian bowler S Sreesanth for his outstanding efforts with the willow in the 2023 World Cup. Sreesanth praised the team management for entirely supporting the batter despite the fact that he was under pressure leading up to the super competition.
Shreyas’ World Cup campaign in 2023 got off to a rocky start. He was dismissed for a duck against Australia before going on to score 25, 53, 19, 33, and 4. However, the right-handed hitter has been extremely fantastic in his previous four innings, with scores of 82, 77, 128*, and 105.
Shreyas’ century against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semi-final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium was somewhat overshadowed by Virat Kohli’s record 50th one-day century.
Sreesanth, speaking to Sportskeeda, lauded the batsman for remaining calm when the spotlight was on Kohli.
“To be very honest, the way Shreyas Iyer played, lots of respect to him. It is not easy when the focus is on something else. He stood with him [Kohli] and slammed 100 off 67 balls. Iyer has performed like that in two-three matches back-to-back. Ahead of the World Cup, there were some fingers pointed at him. People were asking whether he deserves to be part of the [Indian] batting line-up.”
S Sreesanth added:
“Lot of respect to Rahul [Dravid] bhai, Rohit Sharma and the entire team management for continuing with him.”
S Sreesanth
Shreyas scored 105 off 70 balls with four fours and eight sixes, adding 163 alongside Kohli after Shubman Gill departed injured owing to cramping.
Sreesanth praises Kohli for his milestone in presence of Sachin, and Beckham
While Kohli’s 50th one-day ton was a significant achievement, the event was made even more memorable by the attendance of sporting giants such as Sachin Tendulkar [whose record he broke] and David Beckham.
“We were waiting for Kohli’s 50th ton and before that the 48th and the 49th. It was very good to see. Records can be broken, but there were legends present there [at the stadium]. Sachin Tendulkar was there, David Beckham was there and many other celebrities as well. Doing it in front of them, it was so good to see.”
S Sreesanth
Virat Kohli is the 2023 World Cup’s highest run-scorer, with 711 runs in 10 innings at an average of 101.57 and a strike rate of 90.69.