Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar praised Shreyas Iyer's century in the first One-Day International between India and England in Nagpur, calling it the "best" ODI performance of his career, despite Iyer's previous hundreds in the format.
Shreyas Iyer performed admirably under duress, contributing significantly to India's four-wicket victory over England in the first One-Day International. Walking in at 19/2, Iyer maintained great control, answering the English attack with a smooth 59 off 36 balls. He hit 9 fours and 2 sixes as well.
His stroke play was nothing short of superb, combining drive and technique to keep India's chase on track despite early setbacks.
"Not only was he effective, but he was damn good. His innings was just high quality, he did not put a foot wrong. I know it was not a big hundred, but it has to be his best one-day innings that I have seen," Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
Iyer’s natural stroke play and attacking intent ensured that India remained in control.
"This was just Shreyas Iyer, reacting to high-quality bowling. He seems to have worked out a beautiful backfoot game. He's always been a backfoot player but had the tendency to open up, which he is not doing anymore. You saw all the shots possible, and there was a lot of orthodox-sy as well," Manjrekar added.
Shreyas Iyer recently played domestic cricket a lot and Manjrekar credited his outings for Mumbai for refining his technique. He also highlighted the benefits of playing domestic cricket.
"The way he batted today, just the technique and the ball hitting that was happening, it was very very compact, and very good innings like a well-oiled machinery. If domestic cricket has helped him to just get into the groove, then all the arguments that we are hearing about the big names not playing domestic cricket, here's an example. Because Shreyas Iyer, the way he played, I'm sure there is some connection with him playing those domestic matches," Manjrekar said in the same discussion.
It remains to be seen whether Shreyas Iyer will be in action in the second ODI in Cuttack if Virat Kohli returns to the XI.
