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Shreyas Iyer has probably emerged as India's answer to the middle-order conundrum that has haunted the men in blues in the last few years. It came to light during the the ICC ODI World Cup in 2019 and has haunted India since.
After India's ouster from the mega event in 2019, Iyer amassed six half-centuries and a hundred in 11 innings before COVID-19 hit in March 2020. During this period, the 27-year-old cricketer has shown great maturity in holding the innings together and shifting gears towards the end of the innings.
Back after a year that saw him suffer a shoulder injury forcing him to undergo surgery, Shreyas Iyer is doing what is expected from him.
On Friday, India were once again under the pump after being reduced to 42/3 within the first 10 overs. Iyer soaked in the pressure and allowed Rishabh Pant to play his aggressive game to revive the hosts.
He batted for 111 deliveries, scoring 80 runs aided by nine boundaries and adding 109 runs for the fourth wicket. While his best has come at No.4, Iyer stressed he is flexible to bat anywhere the team needs.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, the Mumbai-born cricketer said:
"To be honest I am flexible with batting anywhere in the batting attack but I would prefer batting at number 4 given the current situation."
He added:
"Today's situation was different where you had to play the new ball closer to the body and you need to have a good skill set while tackling it."
West Indies bounced back after Iyer and Pant steadied India's innings, picking up three wickets including that of both set batters. But Deepak Chahar (38) and Washington Sundar (33) chipped in useful contributions to propel the home side to 265 runs, which was enough to inflict a whitewash on the Caribbean side.
Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj were the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets each. Deepak and Kuldeep Yadav scalped two apiece to register a 96-run win for India.
"It has been a tough last couple of months for me" - Shreyas Iyer
Iyer struck gold in his first game of the series. However, the last couple of months have been difficult for the flamboyant batsman.
He suffered from a food infection before testing positive for COVID-19 a couple of days before the start of the ODI series. He missed the first two games before joining the squad for the final tie.
"It has been a tough last couple of months for me. I was down with a food infection and then with COVID," Shreyas Iyer added.
With the ODIs done and dusted, the caravan now shifts to Kolkata for the three-match T20I series, starting February 16.
Iyer, has also been picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for a massive ₹12.25 crore at the 2022 IPL auction.
