Shreyas Iyer isn't able to play at all against Josh Hazlewood: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra observes that Shreyas Iyer "isn't able to play at all" against Josh Hazlewood, highlighting the Indian batsman's consistent struggles against the Australian pacer in IPL 2025.

By Rui 30 May 2025 in Cricket

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Shreyas Iyer isn't able to play at all against Josh Hazlewood

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has hailed RCB pacer Josh Hazlewood for his exceptional bowling skills in the first qualifier against Punjab Kings, which RCB won by eight wickets in Mullanpur on Thursday, May 29.

Interestingly, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer’s struggles against Hazlewood continued as he got out for the fourth time to him in this format. According to Chopra, Hazlewood’s wickets of Iyer and Inglis were the two biggest ones in the game.

"Josh Hazlewood came, and what a trajectory this guy has. He doesn't stop. He had come after an injury. At times, you are slightly ginger when you return from injury and are playing your first match. He said 'Forget that, I will do it,'" Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"He dismissed Shreyas Iyer for the fourth time. Shreyas Iyer isn't able to play at all against him, and he didn't stop there. After that, Josh Inglis. I thought those were the two biggest wickets in the middle order, and it was all over," he added.

Moreover, Chopra also talked about the team’s only weakness in the spin bowling department. However, with Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma winning player of the match awards, that shouldn’t bother the team moving into the grand finale.

"What was this team's weakness? If you ask me to preview this team once again now, I would still say there is a slight weakness in spin bowling, and there is no upgrade in spin in the form of Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, and that there are chances of them getting stuck there," he said.

"Krunal Pandya had already won two Player of the Match awards, and now Suyash Sharma came and bowled within the three stumps. His googly turns more. The leg spin turns less. He picked up three wickets, and whose wickets were those - Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, and Musheer Khan, who came in as the impact player," Chopra concluded.

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