Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels Shreyas Iyer is making a strong case for himself to be included in India’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Shreyas has had a mixed run so far in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa.
In four T20I matches, the right-handed batter has scored 94 runs at an average of 23.50 and strike rate of 125.33. Overall, Shreyas Iyer has a good T20I record averaging 34.73 in forty matches and has a strike rate of 139.56. However, there are doubts about his place in the Indian squad for the World Cup.
During an interaction on Star Sports, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan expressed his opinion about Shreyas Iyer’s chances of making it to the World Cup squad. He stated,
“T20 World Cup is still far away. But apart from these couple of games, he has done well, be it the series against Sri Lanka or West Indies before the IPL. So yes, he is making his case very strong.”
“He performed really well, he is just coming hard against the bowlers from the word go and that’s the kind of character you need as well when you want someone to bat higher up the order,” added Irfan Pathan.
This year, Shreyas Iyer has scored 323 runs in eight matches at an average of 64.60 and a strike rate of 155.28. His run tally this year includes three half-centuries. Shreyas was also the leading run-scorer for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022 season.
Amazing fight back! Showdown in Bengaluru š®š³ pic.twitter.com/0QE9YnvIQs
— Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15) June 17, 2022
Shreyas Iyer needs to get better against fast bowling and make sure he has consistent performance: Irfan Pathan
India batter Shreyas Iyer’s struggle against fast bowling has been well exploited in the T20 format. Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that the youngster needs to improve his game. However, he added that Shreyas Iyer is the guy for the future and needs to perform consistently for India.
“At the same time, as far as the fast bowling is concerned, he needs to get better, and obviously because the World Cup is still far away, quite a few games he will be playing. In those games, whenever he is getting the opportunity after all the guys come in, he needs to make sure that he has a consistent performance,” said Irfan Pathan.
“He is a guy for the future, you need to keep that in mind. He has done well in Test cricket, whenever he is getting an opportunity in white-ball cricket, he is putting his hands up and doing well, so he is a guy the selectors need to keep an eye on,” he added.
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