After the South Africa series concluded, batting great Sunil Gavaskar gave his candid assessment of Shreyas Iyer. When the top batter at the One Day International (ODI) World Cup was questioned about his short ball skills, Shreyas Iyer responded during a press conference. Iyer had a successful World Cup campaign, scoring three half-centuries to silence his detractors. He is from Mumbai. Iyer scored 530 runs at an average of 66.25 across 11 World Cup matches. Despite appearing to have busted the short-ball bubble at the ICC tournament by dismissing India’s No. 4 debate, Iyer has fallen short of expectations in the game’s longest format.
Regarding Iyer’s most recent performances in South Africa, the top batsman endured a forgettable series in the ICC World Test Championship against the Proteas. In the first game of the series against South Africa, Iyer scored 31 runs off 50 balls before the star hitter was out for 6. Team India, led by Rohit Sharma, lost the opening game by an innings and 32 runs. Not a single hitter, save for century maker KL Rahul, reached the 50-run milestone.
With an average of 13.67 in the two-Test series against South Africa, Iyer managed just 41 runs. Before Team India’s next high-profile series in the World Test Championship, batting veteran Sunil Gavaskar has provided some support to Iyer, despite Iyer’s struggles to get into the two-match series. Batting icon Gavaskar said on Star Sports that Iyer’s performance in the longest format was only one of several players who had a poor series against the Proteas.
“Iyer is not the sole player who did not succeed.”Since these pitches are difficult for any batter to hit, Shreyas Iyer is not the only one who struggled. Gavaskar remarked, “If you see, nobody else scored too many runs, except for KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.” One player cannot be singled out for criticism. Therefore, I believe the selection committee will also believe that he ought to be given other opportunities,” he continued.
Iyer’s performance in the Cape Town final
In the South Africa series finale, Indian captain Rohit promised a comeback, and Team India, led by Virat Kohli, overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat Dean Elgar’s team in the second Test in Cape Town. In the second Test, visiting India defeated South Africa to win against the Proteas for the first time at the renowned stadium. The 29-year-old made the game-winning run for India in the low-scoring Test match in Cape Town, but was removed for a two-ball duck. Iyer has scored 15 and 19 in Birmingham, 31 and 6 in Centurion, and 0 and 4 not out in Cape Town in his six knocks against the SENA nations. In the longest format, Iyer is likewise averaging less than forty.
