"Stop overestimating Shreyas Iyer's batting ability" - Ian Chappell pleased with India dropping batter

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell reacted to the Indian squad for the last three Tests against England. He believes that the hosts did the right thing by dropping out-of-form Shreyas Iyer from the team for the remainder of the series. 

One of the highlights of the Indian squad for the last three Tests against England was the omission of Shreyas Iyer. The batter went through a torrid run of form in the longest format of the game and couldn’t cash on the opportunities provided to him. 

Shreyas Iyer failed in all the four innings that he played in the ongoing Test series against England. The batter started pretty well in all the innings but he failed to cash on the starts he had, which led to him facing a lot of backlash for his outings.

Shreyas Iyer has gone eight Test innings without a half-century, which speaks a lot about his form in the format. The batter perished to his spinners and looked scratchy against pacers as well. He was under the radar as well and finally faced the axe from the team. 

Ian Chappell analyzed India’s squad, saying that the hosts are strong, pointing out that the addition of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja will strengthen them more. He hoped that team management would now value Kuldeep Yadav more. Writing in his column for ESPNCricinfo, he explained: 

“India is a strong side and they also have a good leader in Rohit Sharma. They will be greatly strengthened by Ravindra Jadeja’s and KL Rahul’s recovery from injury, but that Virat Kohli will not return for the rest of the series is a blow. Hopefully, the selectors will now stop overestimating Shreyas Iyer’s batting ability and learn to value Kuldeep Yadav’s wicket-taking capability more.” 

It will help England enormously if Stokes is once again able to function as an allrounder – Ian Chappell 

Ian Chappell further added that England will be strong if Ben Stokes starts bowling and play as an all-rounder. He also believes that England’s skipper should keep himself in slips and be proactive with the bat early on. He added: 

“It will help England enormously if Stokes is once again able to function as an allrounder, as his bowling is a distinct weapon. It would also help if he fielded in the slips, especially to the spinners, as he is one of the best in that position. 

“One personal area Stokes could look at is his own batting. If he were more proactive at the start of each innings, it would improve his play. Stokes is a very good batter but he’s at his best when he’s looking to score.” 

Ben Stokes hasn’t bowled in the ongoing Test series against India. He of late has struggled a lot with his bowling due to his knee issues. The all-rounder recently underwent surgery and would be hoping to bowl soon. 

The series between India and England is currently stranded at 1-1. The third match between the teams will be played from 15th February in Rajkot.