Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur has come out in strong support of Indian T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, who has been struggling with the willow in the ongoing five-game T20I series against New Zealand.
In the four T20Is so far on the New Zealand tour, Iyer managed only 76 runs in four innings at an average of 19, with five fours and two sixes. Speaking on SonyLIV, Thakur asserted that No.4 is not an easy position to bat at.
“Many times, how you bat depends on the match situation, and at the number he bats, he has to react to the situation. He cannot set the momentum. The momentum gets set by the top three batters, but Shreyas Iyer comes at No. 4, and sometimes at No. 5 if the left-hander is sent in as a tactical call,” Shardul Thakur said on SonyLIV.
“You have to react based on the situation and the scoreboard. So it’s not an easy position to bat, and once you get set, you also need death batting. So, it’s a challenge as to how you adapt to the game, set the tempo of your batting, and finish as well. So he has a lot of responsibility,” he added.
Further, Thakur went on to add that Iyer has an added responsibility of leading the team, stating that ups and downs keep happening in the shortest format, and we shouldn’t judge anyone in this particular format.
“On top of that, he is the captain. That’s an added responsibility for him these days. So the decision-making can be up and down at times. However, we have seen him doing captaincy in domestic cricket and especially in the IPL, and he has played the final with two (three) franchises. He played the final with KKR and won. He played the final with Punjab and lost,” he said.
“So he has the captaincy skills, and he is showing that when he is leading the Indian team. His start wasn’t good, but the comeback he has made in captaincy, and the tactics he is trying to apply in the game are working for him. Ups and downs keep happening in T20 cricket. You don’t need to judge any batter or bowler much in this format, and Shreyas Iyer too as a captain,” Shardul observed.
