Former India opener Wasim Jaffer heaped praise on stylish batter Shreyas Iyer and said that he has done well in Test cricket in a very short space to make a big name for himself. Iyer played a crucial knock of unbeaten 82 runs on Wednesday in the first Test against Bangladesh. At a tricky batting surface, where several Indian batters struggled to get going, Iyer held his ground to remain not out at stumps on Day 1.
With his unbeaten fifty on Wednesday, Iyer has scored 302 runs in 6 innings as he has managed to become a starter in the Test line-up this year replacing Ajinkya Rahane in the squad.
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Jaffer pointed out that Iyer has already taken India out of trouble on several occasions in recent times as he also scored crucial 92 runs against Sri Lanka earlier this year on a difficult track.
“In his short space of international career, especially in Tests, he’s played some really wonderful knocks. He has taken India out of trouble quite a few times. So, it has been an impressive knock, without a doubt,” Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo.
Iyer looked a bit scratchy at the start but he got settled after spending time in the middle. He was dropped by Ebadton Hossain after scoring fifty and also managed a lucky escape after Hossain’s delivery hit the stumps but the bails didn’t fall off to help him survive.
“He was, obviously, lucky that bails didn’t come off, and Ebadot literally dropped a sitter,” Jaffer said.
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The veteran opener was impressed with Iyer’s batting technique against the spinners but was critical of the Bangladesh team for not testing the batter on short balls.
“I am really impressed with Shreyas Iyer’s tactics against spin. He has got that technique against spinners to come good. I am really surprised Bangladesh were not using short-ball tactics against him,” said Jaffer. “They could have gone for 5-10 overs of a short burst,” he added.
Iyer shared a crucial 149-run stand for the fifth wicket with Pujara to help India recover from a tricky stage as India posted 278/6 at stumps on Day 1.
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