IND vs SL: Shreyas Iyer Is Aware At The Back Of His Mind That He Might Not Start At The T20 World Cup: Dinesh Karthik

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik said Shreyas Iyer will be part of India’s T20 World Cup squad even though he might not be part of the playing XI.

The 27-year-old has hit consecutive fifties in the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka while batting at No.3 as Virat Kohli is rested for the series.

Iyer remained undefeated on 74 during India’s 184-run chase in the second T20I on Saturday at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. The Mumbai player took the responsibility of the match on his shoulders after both openers Rohit Sharma (1) and Ishan Kishan (16) were back in the dugout inside the Powerplay overs.

Iyer smashed Sri Lanka left-arm pacer Bindua Fernando for three consecutive boundaries in the fifth over before he tonked a couple of sixes straight down the ground to Praveen Jayawickrama in the ninth over. Shreyas played an animated shot, a tennis forehand smash, to Chamika Karunaratne for a six to complete his second fifty in the series.

The first step is to put a seat on that flight: Dinesh Karthik

Once Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav are available for selection in the team, it will become stiff for Iyer to cement his place in the Indian team in the shortest format. Karthik said Iyer is aware of the whole situation about his selection in the team.

“I think he’s aware at the back of his mind that he might not start at the World Cup. But, see, the first step is to put a seat on that flight and he for sure with these performances guarantees a strong place and a strong contention,” Karthik told Cricbuzz. 

A lot of maturity has been seen through these innings: Zaheer Khan on Shreyas Iyer

Former Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan said Iyer displayed a lot of maturity in his last two innings against Sri Lanka in the ongoing T20I series and also appreciated his ability to finish matches will be a supporting factor for him in his selection in future.

“He certainly has. There’s no doubt about it. When you have such consistent performances, you can’t really ignore the quality of the player… Number 3 is a very crucial position as well. When you have a chance and you play in this fashion it really adds a lot of value.

“A lot of maturity has been seen through these innings. It’s about understanding what’s the situation of the game, how are you going to approach it.

“All those things Shreyas ticked nicely. And today I like the approach in terms of countering the bowling. It wasn’t about approaching every innings in the same fashion,” Zaheer said.

“When you have finished the game, stayed there till the end, and not just crossed a milestone and say ‘I’ve had a great day out there and I can take more chances.’

“Finishing the game really really counts and he was able to do that. Full marks to him for having that kind of approach… These things will matter for him going forward and will give him that added cushion for Australia,” he added. 

Iyer is currently leading the scoring charts of the T20I series between India and Sri Lanka with 131 runs at the strike rate of 181.94.

Also Read: IND vs SL: Partnership With Sanju Samson Was Crucial: Shreyas Iyer Post 2nd T20I Win