Shreyas Iyer scored a magnificent 92 against Sri Lanka on the opening day of the pink-ball Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru that helped India finish with 252 on a tricky pitch. And following the knock, former India opener Wasim Jaffer compared Shreyas Iyer to two cricketing greats.
India got off to a poor start after opting to bat first on Saturday before Shreyas Iyer bailed out the hosts with his fiery 92 off 98 balls. Although he missed out on a well-deserved century, Shreyas Iyer drew huge appreciation from veteran cricketers for his extraordinary knock. He followed his 92 runs with 67 runs in the 2nd innings.
Shreyas Iyer’s Innings Reminds Wasim Jaffer Of Steve Smith’s Knock In Pune Test In 2017
When asked about which cricketer’s knock does Shreyas Iyer’s 92 resembles, Wasim Jaffer admitted that Steve Smith’s brilliant century in the Pune Test against India in 2017 comes closest although he explained that the Aussie played under tougher conditions.
“Even Rishabh Pant has played so many wonderful knocks in the recent past. So he is probably the closest one specially in this team. You can also go back to Steve Smith who scored that hundred in Pune.
“I mean this pitch is little bit better compared to Pune which was a bit more rigging pitch. But that knock does remind me of Iyer’s knock. I would be really happy had he got that hundred. But he played wonderfully,” said Jaffer.
The right-hander Steve Smith went on to score 109 in the second innings and to put the greatness of that knock in context, Indian batting couldn’t manage more than 107 in both of their innings as Australia scripted a famous 333-run-win in Pune Test.
Shreyas Iyer has played only 4 Tests but has amassed 388 runs averaging a respectable 55.43. He scored a ton on his debut against New Zealand. He averages 62 against Sri Lanka in this series accumulating 186 runs. Shreyas Iyer was on Monday voted the ICC ‘Men’s Player of the Month’ for February. He earned the award on the back of his brilliant white-ball exploits during the home series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively last month.
He aggregated 204 runs without being dismissed across three innings against Sri Lanka in T20Is at a highly impressive strike rate of 174.36. He registered scores of 57*(28), 74*(44) and 73*(45) across three games.
Wasim Jaffer Likened Shreyas Iyer With VVS Laxman For Bailing Team Out Of Trouble By Playing With Tail-enders
The veteran batter also hailed Shreyas Iyer’s ability to bat with tail-end batters like former middle-order batsman VVS Laxman did back in his days.
“He is making a habit of playing with tail-enders and bailing the Indian team out which is a very good sign for a batter who plays at No.5 or 6. VVS used to do a lot of that. He is doing a very very fine job,” he said.
Indian pacers, inspired by Jasprit Bumrah, who picked his maiden five-wicket haul in India, then bundled out Sri Lanka for 109, leaving India with a 143-run lead.
Batting in the second innings of the second India-Sri Lanka Test, Rishabh Pant smashed his fifty off just 28 deliveries, hitting seven fours and two sixes. On the back of Pant and Shreyas Iyer’s batting show, India put up an impressive 303/9 declared in their second innings, setting an unlikely target of 447 for the visitors.
Sri Lanka were 189/6 on Day 3 against India in the Pink-ball Test. Sri Lanka need another 258 runs to win while India are 4 wickets away from a 2-0 series victory. Dimuth Karunaratne is batting on an unbeaten 96 with tail-enders.