Former Australian skipper, Ian Chappell gave harsh comments on the Indian middle-order batter, Shreyas Iyer, who failed to open his account in India’s first inning of the ongoing third Test against Australia in Indore. Chappell said that he was still not convinced by Iyer’s ability to spin, and considers him to be a bit of a panicker.

Shreyas Iyer, who failed to open his account in the first innings, missed the first Test due to fitness issues but was immediately drafted back into the XI after proving his fitness and availability in Delhi.

“Cheteshwar Pujara is very jumpy. I think right through the series he has been very jumpy. I keep hearing that Shreyas Iyer is a very good player of spin bowling, but I haven’t seen it yet, and I’m not convinced that he is. To me, he is a bit of a panicker,” Ian Chappell said during a chat with ESPNcricinfo after stumps on Day 1 of the Indore Test.

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Notably, India got bundled out for 109 on a pitch that spun sharply from the morning session and frequently stayed low. Only Virat Kohli, India’s top-scorer with 22 runs, faced more than 50 deliveries during the 33.2 overs. Matt Kuhnemann (5/16) of Australia, who was introduced into the attack as early as the sixth over, claimed his first five-wicket haul in only his second Test.

Elaborating the same, Ian Chappell said, “There are some players in the Indian side that haven’t convinced me that they’re good players of spin bowling. I thought that the Australians spooked India early on. A couple of things happened with the pitch. The Australian spinners bowled very accurately. But what we saw was Australian-type batting from the Indians.”

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Ian Chappell then heaped rich praise on Usman Khawaja, who scored a valiant 60 on a tricky Indore surface. He said, “When Australia batted, particularly [Usman] Khawaja, he was very good. [Marnus] Labuschagne had a good partnership with him. There was more of the Rohit Sharma batting when he got the century in Australia’s innings. To me, it was Australia who outplayed India and definitely deserved to have the lead.”