Shreyas Iyer Can Be Solution To India's No.4 Slot: MSK Prasad

India’s chairman of selectors MSK Prasad who was roped in as the chief selector in 2016 is now nearing the end of his contract. He went on to add saying that it was unfortunate that Shreyas Iyer had to miss out in the stint in the build-up to the World Cup. He even stressed on the fact that Shreyas Iyer can be the solution to India’s no.4 conundrum in the limited-overs line-up keeping in mind his exceptional evolution as a player in the last two years.

Iyer made his debut for India in November 2017 in a T20 International against New Zealand. In the next month, he played in his maiden ODI series, scoring back-to-back crunch fifties in the home rubber against Sri Lanka. The talented batsman then played three ODIs in South Africa 2 months later before he was sidelined, only making a rebound in the ODIs against the West Indies in August this year after India’s campaign in the World Cup.

“If you recall, we had inducted Shreyas Iyer (when Virat Kohli was rested) 18 months back into the ODI squad and he has done reasonably well. Unfortunately, we couldn’t continue with him. Having said that, he has evolved as a player now and he can be the solution to our number 4 slot in both ODIs and T20s,” MSK Prasad added in an interview.

The 24-year-old batsman kept scoring runs for Mumbai in domestic cricket and also for India A. Earlier, he had expressed disappointment at not getting many chances at the big stage. Now he is back in action and has fared well in both ODIs and T20s ever since the West Indies tour.

VVS Laxman was very impressed with Shreyas Iyer

Even former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman was also impressed with the way Shreyas Iyer grabbed the opportunity tightly in the series against Bangladesh. Shreyas Iyer was the pick of the batsmen against Bangladesh in the T20I decider, scoring a 33-ball 62 with the help of 5 sixes and 3 fours.

“I was very impressed with the way Shreyas Iyer has batted so far. The best part about him was when during the last T20 International in Nagpur when India lost their top 3 batsmen, he had the ability to assess the condition very well and was very versatile in his approach and when Rahul was the aggressor he played second fiddle and the moment Rahul got out and Rishabh Pant came to the crease under pressure and was not able to rotate the strike, Shreyas Iyer just registered that and changed his gear and that is what you want at a number four,” Laxman said.

Read More: Shreyas Iyer Might Be India’s Best Batsman At No.4: VVS Laxman