He Is Not A Long-Term Option At That Position - Aakash Chopra Feels No. 6 Is Not The Right Spot For Shreyas Iyer

Former India batsman, Aakash Chopra opines that Shreyas Iyer is not a viable choice to bat at number six in the batting line-up. Iyer batted at number 5 in the first two T20Is of the ongoing series against England, but with Rohit Sharma returning at the top other, including Virat Kohli, was pushed one position down. Hence Iyer had come in at 6 in the last couple of games.

While Iyer did score a quickfire knock of 37 runs off 18 deliveries in the 4th T20I, however, Aakash Chopra feels that Iyer’s best position is at number 5 – from which he played brilliant innings of 67 runs in the first game – if not number 4, which he seemed to be a lock a couple of series ago.

Aakash Chopra asserts that the Delhi Capitals skipper has to bat at whatever position he is been asked to bat considering the competition for places in the side.

“He does not have any other option. As they say if you are pushed into the water, you don’t have any other option but to swim as the other option is to drown. So he has to bat at whatever position given to him,” Aakash Chopra told ESPNCricinfo.

“Whether it is ideal, definitely not because in the first match he had scored 67 when India made 124. So the player who made more than half the runs, you didn’t send him up the order but further down.

“He was batting at No.5 there, now he is batting at No.6. No.6 is not the right spot for him, he has batted well, you need to pat his back but he is not a long-term option at the position you are making him bat.

“Shreyas Iyer is making the best use of the opportunity given to him but it is not the best number for him and it is slightly a problem of their own making because there are so many top-order batsmen that even Kohli is not getting to bat at his preferred batting slot,” he added.

It is probably working here but generally, No.6 batsman will not be utilized: Aakash Chopra

The 43-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator points out that the number 6 batsman often remains underutilized as in T20s early wickets don’t fall early and hence the number 7 batsman, the finisher, Hardik Pandya in this case, will be promoted up Iyer, the number 6 batter here.

“It is probably working here because he batted well and he got more chances as well because you lost a lot of early wickets. But generally, you don’t lose so many wickets early in T20 cricket in which case the No.6 batsman will not be utilized at all because you will push him further down and send Hardik Pandya ahead of him,” the former opener stated.

The series which stands locked at 2-2 will be decided on Saturday in the fifth T20I in Ahmedabad.

Also Read: Asghar Afghan Equals MS Dhoni’s Record Of Most Wins As T20I Captain