Former Indian cricketer and analyst Ambati Rayudu has showered praise on the Indian captain Shreyas Iyer, calling him a ‘match-winner ’. Notably, Iyer struck form in the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand, scoring 50 off 23 in Hamilton.
However, his knock wasn’t enough for India to dominate as New Zealand secured a comfortable seven-wicket win, chasing down a 192-run target in just 18 overs. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Rayudu asserted that Iyer knows how to dominate and control his innings.
“He has always been in good form. When people doubt someone like Shreyas Iyer, it’s pretty laughable, because whenever he bats, he is a match-winner. He just takes the premier bowlers on, it is not like he is stitching up an innings where he is struggling and then he goes about hitting a few boundaries. He just dominates the innings, he controls the innings, so he is a fantastic, fantastic batter,” Ambati Rayudu said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, former Indian spinner Murali Kartik backed Iyer to continue his good form after struggling in the initial four T20Is of the series. He went on to dissect the technical changes made by Iyer to improve his gameplay.
“There was a phase where people were targeting him with short balls, and you look at the new Shreyas Iyer, he has got the two-eyed stance, an open stance, and he is constantly flapping his bat in the air as a trigger movement. He has worked on what needs to be done, given his own body structure and stance. So, these are things which you look at. There are times where he tries the odd, and sometimes on the given day his changes might not give him the best timing on the given day. But the most important thing is, when you back yourself on sound fundamentals, you are always going to have better days,” Murali Kartik said.
India ended the five-match T20I series against New Zealand 3-2. The action now shifts to the five-match ODI series, starting on Wednesday, November 4 in Auckland.
