On Thursday, the Indian batsman, Shreyas Iyer on Thursday said the current competition in the Indian batting order one to bat at any number after he did not get to play at his usual number four position in the first ODI against Australia. He returned to India’s limited-overs squad following the 2019 World Cup and has done more than a decent job at number four.
However, Iyer batted at number five spot on Tuesday as skipper Virat Kohli himself came at four to accommodate specialist openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in the playing XI. The move failed as the men in blue lost the game by 10 wickets.
Ahead of the second ODI in Rajkot, Shreyas said, “In this situation, you should be ready to bat at any number because it is really important to play in the team, (considering) the competition which we have now right now. We can’t give any reasons for batting at any particular number. Yes, it is really important for us to be focused and not to cry about why we haven’t been batting at a similar position.”
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He further explained, “Experimentation is something we are looking forward to. This is the time we should try and experiment things and hopefully it will work-out in the future.”
When asked about the middle-order collapse in Mumbai exposed India’s weakest link, Iyer said that it was part and parcel of the game. He said that every cricketer needs to take losses like this in our stride and move forward.
Jasprit Bumrah has not been at his best ever since his comeback but Iyer has not felt that in the nets. He said that Bumrah has been sharp and bowling at a good pace in the nets and nothing has been changed with him. He also backed the men in blue to make a strong comeback in the second ODI.
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Shreyas added, “We have seen in the past as well we were 0-1 down against the West Indies, it’s not that as if we have lost the series, we can still come back strong and that’s what we discussed in the dressing room. We need to back and believe in ourselves and also in our teammates that in a pressure situation somebody would stand up and see to it that they take the team through. We need to work on a lot of areas and we will come back in the next match.”
Iyer also praises the Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who is not part of the touring Australian squad by saying that the latter is one of teh players who’s the attitude towards the game always remains the same.
