India batter Shreyas Iyer built on his outstanding debut Test series against New Zealand by playing a key role in India's rout of Sri Lanka, and former opener Aakash Chopra was full of praise for the 27-year-ability old to overcome adversity in recent years.
After scoring 92 and 67 in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, Iyer was named Player of the Match, which India won by 238 runs and pocketed the series 2-0 as well.
Before the Tests, Iyer dominated the three-match T20I series, going undefeated on 57, 73, and 74. In the first Test, he scored 92 runs off just 98 balls.
“The confidence he (Shreyas) showed, his feet dance and not only for the reels but also on the pitch. He doesn't play the sweep but despite that, he scores runs on a turning pitch. He hits sixes while standing in his position, he played knocks that win your heart. The dominance with which he played was really admirable,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"It was a continuation for him from the T20s. I even asked him after the match if we should put the Sri Lankan team in the IPL because you hit them so much, so why not take them along with you, you can play them as well."
Iyer has overcome a period in which he was not selected for the T20 World Cup 2021 and lost his captaincy with the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to a injury, according to Chopra.
"He was absolutely brilliant. He got injured and after that, the form was also going fifty-fifty. Then you lost the captaincy as well, wasn't scoring that many runs, did not get a place in the team for the World Cup but after that, once the story changes, this boy became unstoppable.
“The 92-run knock in the first innings and the half-century in the second, both came on a bad pitch, I think they were worth their weight in gold. He was batting at No. 6, he was not playing at No. 5 and I feel we missed him in South Africa because you needed somebody with form and there wasn't a lot of form in the middle order,” he said.
