Sunil Gavaskar thinks the selectors should let Shreyas Iyer play more Test cricket. This is despite his mediocre showings against South Africa.
In the two-Test series with the Proteas, Shreyas Iyer only scored 41 runs. This averages out to a weak 13.67. His first Test saw a 31-run effort in the beginning, but then he scored just six, and later, zero. Even after these shaky results, he managed to hit the decisive shot in the Cape Town Test’s second half.
Gavaskar stated on Star Sports that Shreyas Iyer cannot take whole responsibility for India’s poor batting efforts in South Africa. He emphasized that the only visiting players to have a significant impact with the bat were Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, saying:
“Shreyas Iyer is not the only player who failed because it’s not easy for any batter on these pitches. If you see, barring Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, no one else scored too many runs.”
Sunil Gavaskar
The former India captain added:
“You cannot point fingers at just one player. So I feel the selection committee will also think that he should probably be given more chances.”
Sunil Gavaskar
Kohli and Rahul, scoring 172 and 113 respectively, were the sole Indian players to gather up over 100 runs and average over 20 in the dual-match series. Observing the top six, Shreyas Iyer stood right above Yashasvi Jaiswal with the latter at the end, carrying a 12.50 average.
Shreyas Iyer struggles to defend full and short balls on seaming pitches, according to Sanjay Manjrekar
In a different Star Sports conversation, Sanjay Manjrekar brought up Shreyas Iyer Iyer’s issue with seamer-friendly surfaces. He declared:
“It’s very difficult for him because the problem is with the defense against both full and short deliveries. So, he has to work a lot to score runs on foreign pitches.”
Sanjay Manjrekar
The middle-order hitter is likely to be inconsistent because of the hazardous strategy he is compelled to use, the former Indian cricket player continued. He said:
“If you don’t have the defense, you have to take risks to score runs and when you take too many risks with a counterattacking approach, you don’t have the consistency.”
Sanjay Manjrekar
Shreyas Iyer scored 707 runs, averaging 39.27 in 12 Test games. But, his performance in three Tests outside the subcontinent raised questions. He only managed 34 runs in two innings in England, followed by two Tests in South Africa.