Sunil Gavaskar has endorsed Shreyas Iyer for a long tenure in the format despite his lackluster performance during an unimpressive Test series against South Africa. In his two Test matches against the Proteas, Iyer averaged a pitiful 13.67 and could muster only 41 runs. Although he opened the first Test with a 31-run knock, he was only able to muster six runs and a duck in the next inning before making a vital contribution in the second inning of the Cape Town Test.
Thus, in my opinion, the selection committee would also believe that Sunil Gavaskar ought to be given additional opportunities, as he stated in a Star Sports interview.
The batting difficulty was clear in the series, with only KL Rahul (113) and Virat Kohli (172) scoring more than 100 runs and keeping an average over 20. Out of the top six batters, Iyer had the second-lowest average (12.50), with Yashasvi Jaiswal coming in last. But Sunil Gavaskar emphasized that it wouldn’t be fair to hold Iyer alone responsible for India’s poor batting, pointing out that there weren’t many other notable players to mention save Rahul and Kohli.
It’s not simple for any batter to bat these pitches; therefore, Shreyas Iyer is not the only player who struggled. You can see that nobody else scored a lot of runs, with the exception of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. One player cannot be singled out for criticism.
To score runs on foreign pitches, Shreyas Iyer needs to put in a lot of work: Sanjay Manjrekar
Although the 29-year-old’s Test record of 707 runs at an average of 39.27 was achieved during the course of 12 matches, his shortcomings were evident outside of subcontinental conditions. He struggled on seaming pitches, scoring just 34 runs in two innings in the previous South Africa series as well as against England. Sanjay Manjrekar, a right-handed batter, highlighted his difficulties and attributed them to his aggressive approach, which was necessary given the circumstances. This strategy, according to Manjrekar, could make Iyer less consistent in the middle order.
Because of the issue with the defense against both full and short deliveries, it’s really tough for him. To score runs on foreign pitches, he must therefore put in a lot of work. Without a defense, scoring runs requires taking chances, and when counterattacking takes too many chances, consistency suffers, according to Manjrekar.
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