"Shreyas Iyer is the sort of player who says well 'I am going to get them before they get me'" - Ian Chappell on playing against spinners

Former Australian player Ian Chappell was not impressed with Indian batter Shreyas Iyer's technique on a rank turner against Australia in the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test.

Australia defeated India by nine wickets on the morning of the third day at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Friday (March 3).

India were bowled out for 109 and 163 in the first and second innings, respectively, on a pitch that offered an extreme turn for the spinners. Iyer was dismissed for a second-ball duck in the first innings, with left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann cleaning him up.

Shreyas Iyer attacked the spinners in the second innings. He smashed Kuhnemann for two sixes and hit Lyon for as many boundaries. He was dismissed off Mitchell Starc's bowling thanks to a breathtaking catch from Usman Khawaja to end the 26-run knock by the Indian batter.

However, Chappell wasn't pleased with the approach of the Indian middle-order batter. In an interaction with ESPNcricinfo after the third Test, the former Australian captain explained why Iyer's options in taking on spinners might not work anywhere.

He said:

"A lot of the Indian players that they are talking about are (said to be) good players of spin bowling. Shreyas Iyer being one. I don't see that. I think Shreyas Iyer is the sort of player who says well 'I am going to get them before they get me'."

Chappell added:

"That tends to be more of a white-ball attitude and you can get away with that on flat pitches. But on those sort of pitches, that is not the technique."

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"They have started to see how important Rishabh Pant is to the Indian side" - Ian Chappell

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Srikar Bharat has scored 57 runs in five innings at an average of 14.25 in this Test series so far. Bharat has been preferred over Ishan Kishan to keep the wickets by the Indian team management, with regular gloveman Rishabh Pant out of action after suffering a tragic road accident last year.

Chappell emphasized the importance of Pant to the Indian Test team. Pant was the architect of India's win in the Brisbane Test in the previous edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Chappell said:

"One of the big differences is that there is no Rishabh Pant in this Indian side. They have started to see how important Rishabh Pant is to the Indian side."

India will play against Australia in the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, starting on March 9.