Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Shreyas Iyer’s batting in the two innings of the Bengaluru Test against Sri Lanka where he scored 92 and 67 respectively. He was awarded the Player of the Match for his stunning batting also. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra opined on this.
He said, “The confidence he (Shreyas) showed, his feet dance and not only for the reels but also on the pitch. He doesn’t play the sweep but despite that, he scores runs on a turning pitch. He hits sixes while standing in his position, he played knocks that win your heart. The dominance with which he played was really admirable.”
He again added: “It was a continuation for him from the T20s. I even asked him after the match if we should put the Sri Lankan team in the IPL because you hit them so much, so why not take them along with you, you can play them as well. He was absolutely brilliant. He got injured and after that, the form was also going fifty-fifty. Then you lost the captaincy as well, wasn’t scoring that many runs, did not get a place in the team for the World Cup but after that, once the story changes, this boy doesn’t take the name of stopping.”
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The veteran has concluded by saying that Team India probably missed a trick by not playing the in-form Shreyas Iyer in the Tests against South Africa.
“The 92-run knock in the first innings and the half-century in the second, both came on a bad pitch, I think they were worth their weight in gold. He was batting at No. 6, he was not playing at No. 5 and I feel we missed him in South Africa because you needed somebody with form and there wasn’t a lot of form in the middle order,” he shared.
Aakash Chopra has also said that Rishabh Pant didn’t let the opponent bowlers dominate on turning tracks. Pant played blitzy knocks all three times he batted in the Test series against Sri Lanka. He said: “One important thing is that Dimuth Karunaratne scored a century but the bowler was not scared of him, a spinner is scared of bowling to Rishabh Pant even on a turning pitch, it is an absolute dustbowl but you are slightly afraid while bowling to him.”
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He again shared: “If someone generates fear in the opposition, that guy is Rishabh Pant. He is a very different sort of player, who brings a lot of confidence and the opposition feels his presence. He is once again stamping his authority and that’s beautiful about Pant. When you see his batting you feel that he would be playing T20 extremely well, will be decent in ODIs, and might be struggling a little in Test cricket because he plays very aggressively. But it is totally the opposite for him. He plays Tests as if he was born to play the format. He is alright in ODIs and T20s but he is an amazing player. He got the Player of the Series award also here.”
Aakash Chopra also believes that the 24-year-old will become the most successful wicketkeeper-batter in the history of Indian cricket in the longer format as well.
