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"He can become a very good option at No. 3"- Sanjay Bangar on Shreyas Iyer

Onecricket

Former India cricketer and batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes that the Rahul Dravid-Rohit Sharma-led team-management is looking to groom Shreyas Iyer as a backup for Virat Kohli at the No.3 spot

With Kohli not available for the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka, Shreyas batted at the No.3 spot in the first game and he vindicated the call to the hilt with a brilliant knock.

The 27-year-old smashed an unbeaten 28-ball 57; an innings studded with five fours and two sixes, to help India post an eventual match-winning total of 3/199.

Speaking to Star Sports, Bangar reckoned that Iyer is the ideal backup for Virat at No.3 and he should be groomed for that spot, so that he can replace the latter, whenever he is unavailable.

“The bench is getting strong. The position at which Shreyas is being sent to bat, he is being continuously sent at No. 3. So God forbid if Virat Kohli gets injured in some match, I feel he can become a very good option at No. 3 and that is probably where the team management’s sights are set on Shreyas Iyer,"

Even former left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan was left in complete awe of Iyer following his knock on Thursday (February 24).

 “This guy has swag. When this boy is in form, it is enjoyable to watch. The big shots he plays, he doesn’t stay at one spot but despite that, the balance he generates, it is his own ability,” Pathan told Star Sports.

Shreyas has faced a lot of criticism from his detractors with regards to his strike-rate in the shortest format.

On Thursday, the stylish right-handed batsman answered his critics with disdain, believes Irfan.

He signed off by stating that people should not expect Iyer to always strike at 160+ as his role in the team is to anchor the innings.

“I like the non-looker six he hits the most. The two sixes he hit off the slower ones – one-off Karunaratne and later off Chameera. He answered the critics with his bat, you don’t need to answer with your tongue. If we expect Shreyas Iyer to always bat at a strike rate of around 160, that’s not going to happen, he is a different batter,” he added.

Shreyas has had a stop-start career in this format due to a combination of untimely injuries and massive competition for places in the set-up.

With Virat (rested) and Suryakumar Yadav (injured) not available, he'd be looking to stake a strong claim for a spot in the middle-order by putting up two more brilliant performances in the remaining fixtures.

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