"His feet dance and not only for the reels" - Aakash Chopra lauds Shreyas Iyer's performances in the Test series vs SL
Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Shreyas Iyer has exhibited his dancing skills not only through social media reels but also on the field of play.
Iyer played 92 and 67-run knocks in the two innings of the Bengaluru Test against Sri Lanka. He was duly chosen as the Player of the Match for his enterprising batting.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked the star performers for Team India in the Test series against Sri Lanka. He said the following about Shreyas Iyer:
"The confidence he (Shreyas) showed, his feet dance and not only for the reels but also on the pitch. He doesn't play the sweep but despite that, he scores runs on a turning pitch. He hits sixes while standing in his position, he played knocks that win your heart. The dominance with which he played was really admirable."
The cricketer-turned-commentator even joked that Iyer might want the Sri Lankan team to feature in the upcoming IPL 2022. Chopra mentioned:
"It was a continuation for him from the T20s. I even asked him after the match if we should put the Sri Lankan team in the IPL because you hit them so much, so why not take them along with you, you can play them as well."
Shreyas Iyer enjoyed a great run against the visiting Sri Lankan side. He was the Player of the Series in the T20Is. Although he didn't make a substantial contribution in the Mohali Test, he once again dominated the Sri Lankan attack in the pink-ball Test.
"Shreyas Iyer was absolutely brilliant" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra showered praise on Iyer for bouncing back brilliantly after a few setbacks. He explained:
"He was absolutely brilliant. He got injured and after that, the form was also going fifty-fifty. Then you lost the captaincy as well, wasn't scoring that many runs, did not get a place in the team for the World Cup but after that, once the story changes, this boy doesn't take the name of stopping."
The 44-year-old concluded by saying that Team India probably missed a trick by not playing the in-form Iyer in the Tests against South Africa. Chopra elaborated:
"The 92-run knock in the first innings and the half-century in the second, both came on a bad pitch, I think they were worth their weight in gold. He was batting at No. 6, he was not playing at No. 5 and I feel we missed him in South Africa because you needed somebody with form and there wasn't a lot of form in the middle order."
Rishabh Pant batted ahead of Shreyas Iyer in the Test series against Sri Lanka. With both players enjoying great success, the team management might look to persist with them in the same positions.