Former India opener turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra believes Shreyas Iyer’s stunning knocks in the last two T20Is against Sri Lanka can be a selection headache for Team India. However, Iyer smashed an unbeaten 57 off just 28 deliveries in the first T20I to help the team post a massive 200-run target for the Lankans. He then smashed an unbeaten 74-run knock in Saturday’s match to help seal the series for India as well.
While reviewing the second T20I in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra stated that the selection dilemma was caused by Iyer’s knock as well. Aakash Chopra, meanwhile, added that KL Rahul is also being considered as a middle-order batsman and not as an opener too.
He said: “It’s a big question for India now on where to make Shreyas Iyer play because you cannot drop him now but you cannot play him as well. It’s a very sweet headache, you don’t need Disprin but Shreyas Iyer for that. There is a lot of discussion about him [Shreyas]. It is because we say that there is no KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav at the moment. We can also add Hardik Pandya to it.”
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He reasoned: “Potentially all of them are middle-order players because you are not looking at KL Rahul also as an opener, you want a left-right combination at the top because you did that in the World Cup as well. If you want left-right at the top and Ishan Kishan as an opener, then they all are middle order. Shreyas Iyer’s number was last among them. The talks were that Surya had gone ahead and Rishabh, Rahul and Kohli are in any case ahead, then what will happen to Iyer, God knows if he will get a chance or not.”
Aakash Chopra also named Shreyas Iyer as his Player of the Match for the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka. He also applauded Ravindra Jadeja for his stunning show. Jadeja smashed 45 out of the 58-run partnership alongside Iyer as well.
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“My Player of the Match has to be Shreyas Iyer. Whenever he has got the opportunities, he has made the best use of them. When he got to bat in the 12th over in the first match, he played the role of a finisher, took India to 199 and here when he came into bat in the 2nd over itself, he played an amazing knock. He didn’t let Praveen Jayawickrama bowl at all, continuously batted well and remained unbeaten till the end. The best part was the maturity at the end, that he has to finish the match. He allowed Jaddu to hit from the other end. That’s the kind of mindset you really like,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
