"There should not be any pressure on Shreyas Iyer for his place in the team" - Sanjay Bangar
Sanjay Bangar has said there shouldn't be any question marks over Shreyas Iyer's place in the Indian T20I team and added he should be given a consistent run.
Shreyas Iyer played a 67-run knock in the first T20I against England to take the hosts to a face-saving score of 124/7. This was also the Mumbai-born batsman's highest score in the 25 T20Is he has played.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Bangar observed that Shreyas Iyer's place in the Indian T20I team should not be at stake as he can adjust his game according to the situation.
"He batted in a brilliant fashion and it was under pressure. He was also sent down the order because Rishabh Pant was promoted. He is a very consistent player and there should not be any pressure on him for his place in the team because he is a player who can play responsibly and can play the big shots," said Bangar.
The former Indian batting coach wants Team India to persist with Shreyas Iyer till the T20 World Cup, which is to be played at home later in the year.
"If you have seen since 2019, if a player has been given chances at No.4 or No.5, it is Shreyas Iyer. Yes, he had a slightly below-par series in Australia but if you play so many matches, two or three failures can happen. I feel this player should continue playing all the T20 matches till the World Cup because the more confidence you give him, the better he will keep getting," added Bangar.
There were speculations in certain quarters that the Indian team might opt to play Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Shreyas Iyer in the ongoing T20I series against England. However, the latter's fighting knock in the first T20I would have sealed the debate for now.
"Shreyas Iyer can play all around the wicket" - Sanjay Bangar
Talking about Shreyas Iyer's knock in the first T20I, Sanjay Bangar pointed out the 26-year-old exhibited a full array of strokes and displayed a mature head.
"He made room to play the cover drive and then his favourite shot of going across and playing the flicks to the leg side, the balance was very good. He also played the cut shot for a huge six. So, he can play all around the wicket and he has a very good understanding. He was the player who gave himself time because of the situation and tried to play with timing and because of that was able to play a brilliant 67-run knock," concluded Bangar.
Shreyas Iyer has amassed 496 runs at an average of 29.17 and a strike rate of 131.91 in the 25 T20Is he has played for India. While he is almost a certainty in the Indian ODI team, the Delhi Capitals skipper will hope to cement a spot in the shortest format of the game as well through his exploits in the ongoing T20I series.