Shreyas Iyer displayed his magnificent ODI form with a 59 off 36 balls in the first match in Nagpur, tearing England's bowling apart.
Shreyas Iyer displayed his magnificent ODI form with a 59 off 36 balls in the first match in Nagpur, tearing England’s bowling apart. His performance came after he was left initially out of India’s playing XI and that surprised former Australia captain Ricky Ponting. Despite being a key figure at No.4 in recent years, India opted to hand Yashasvi Jaiswal a debut in the original lineup before Virat Kohli’s injury forced a change.
Jaiswal’s inclusion led to a restructuring of India’s top order, pushing Shubman Gill down to No.3 where Virat Kohli usually bats in ODIs. It is still unclear whether India would have considered pushing Kohli to No.4 had he been available. There are many ex-cricketers who have raised questions over the decision, especially Iyer’s exclusion from the team, given his consistency in the last few ODIs.
Speaking to ICC Review, Ricky Ponting shared his views on Shreyas Iyer’s initial exclusion from India’s playing XI. Having worked earlier with Iyer as the head coach of Delhi Capitals, he is going to join him in Punjab Kings this IPL. He was surprised at Iyer not being considered for the Indian team in recent times, pointing out that the batter had done really well in the World Cup, where he was a natural middle-order player and seemed to have cemented his place in the team.
“I’ve been a little bit surprised that he’s been out of India’s side the last couple of years. He had a terrific World Cup back in India where he played beautifully in the middle-order and I actually felt then that he’d almost cemented that spot and made that his own,” Ponting said.
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Ponting acknowledged that injuries played a significant role in Iyer’s absence from the Indian team, particularly his back injury, which kept him out of action for a while. However, he pointed out that Iyer has made a strong comeback in domestic cricket this season, delivering exceptional performances. He also noted that Iyer’s resurgence coincided with the IPL auction period, further proving his consistency and form in competitive cricket.
“Then he had those couple of injuries, obviously injured his back and went out of the side, but his domestic season this year has been brilliant. It sort of coincided with what he’s done since around (IPL) auction time going forward in domestic cricket, he has been pretty much outstanding,” he added.
Ponting believes Iyer’s skill set is better suited to white-ball cricket. He also pointed out Iyer’s ability to dominate spin bowling, which is a great asset, especially against teams that avoid using spinners against India. However, when spin does come into play, Ponting believes Iyer is among the best at handling it. He was happy to see Iyer again in the Indian squad, knowing well that the youngster was valuable to the team’s middle order.
“He’s got the game that will stand up to the white-ball formats, especially in that part of the world. On those wickets – the slower, lower wickets – he’s dynamic on those. We know how good a hitter of spin bowling he is and teams tend not to bowl a lot of spin at India, but at some stage it’s going to come. If Shreyas is out in the middle, then he’s as good as anyone. So I’m delighted to see him back in their team,” Ponting said.
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