File photo of Ravichandran Ashwin
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin applauded Shreyas Iyer and said that playing spin and taking them down is the right-handed batter’s speciality. Speaking on his official YouTube channel, Ashwin called Iyer a standout performer for the ‘Men in Blue’. He also added that people don’t appreciate him much instead they ask him not to do it more often. “Batting against spin and taking them down is Shreyas’ speciality, and he is a standout performer. Chasing excellence is a rare commodity in sports. If somebody does something unique, people, instead of appreciating it, tell them not to do it,” the 37-year-old spinner said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin added that Iyer chases excellence and takes a note to grasp the pull shot.
The number one Test bowler added that the 28-year-old smashes the pacers over mid-off which is a sign of a champion batter.
“What I love about Shreyas is that he chases excellence; he took a note to master the pull shot and worked on it. He got out on it but look at the number of balls he put away to the boundary. Balls were sent to the mid-wicket region and behind the square, which shows he is ready for that ball. He hit fast bowlers above mid-off, definitely the sign of a champion batter developing for India,” Ashwin added.
In the recent ODI World Cup, Iyer appeared in 11 matches in which he scored 530 runs with a strike rate of 113.24. He slammed two consecutive centuries and three fifties in the prestigious tournament.
Iyer made his India debut in the T20 format in 2017 following that he scored 1043 runs after taking part in 45 innings and has a strike rate of 135.98.
In the ODI format, the Mumbai-born player scored 2331 runs after appearing in 53 innings for the ‘Men in Blue’ with a strike rate of 101.
In Test cricket, the middle-order batter scored 666 runs following his 16 innings.
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