IND vs SA: Aakash Chopra Believes Shreyas Iyer Will Struggle To Make India's T20 World Cup Squad

Aakash Chopra believes Shreyas Iyer will struggle to make the Indian team for the T20 World Cup later this year.

Shreyas scored 94 runs in the recently ended T20I series against South Africa at a below-par average of 23.50. But he was still at his finest against spinners, he struggled against pacers, who managed to keep him on a short leash.

Aakash Chopra ranked Ruturaj Gaikwad, Axar Patel, and Rishabh Pant as the top three athletes who failed to pick up on their opportunities against the Proteas in a video posted on his YouTube channel. He chose Shreyas at number four, saying:

“Last but not least, Shreyas Iyer is my fourth player. If we speak about just a sequence for pants, there is one here as well, and it was also present in the IPL. The bowling attack will come, short bowling will be done, he will try and hit shots by shifting away, but surprises will happen.”

‘Team India has better options for finishers’: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra emphasized that Team India has better choices for finishers as well. He elaborated:

“So, if your number does not appear in these five, you will conclude that he cannot bat in the middle order. There is no point pushing him down the order when Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, and Rishabh Pant are possibly a bit better options.”

“So, Shreyas Iyer will indeed be trapped. The fact that it happened to an Indian batter makes us believe that the World Cup is in Australia, or how can you deliver a batter who’s having problems against short bowling and is not misplaced? Let us face it, the fields will be massive, and bouncers will be bowled.”

Shreyas was the standout performer for Team India in the T20I series against Sri Lanka before the IPL 2022. However, the Mumbai batter’s issues with express pace were highlighted during the IPL and the T20I series against South Africa, which may cost him his place in the team.

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