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

Anurag Das Gupta

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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PSL Eliminator 2 | David Wiese masterclass sails Lahore to final in a dramatic clash

A deserved contest to get into the final of the Pakistan Super League 2022, the Eliminator turned out to be one of the best matches in the tournament despite its flaws. Lahore Qalandars bundled Islamabad United for 162 runs in 19.4 overs to win the game by 6 runs on Friday, 25 February to book a place in the final alongside Multan Sultans. But, it was not a straightforward game as the scoreline might suggest. The game had everything. Collapse on both sides, exceptional bowling performances, poor fielding, exceptional fielding and then a rain affected final over. Imagine Lahore Qalandars preparing to bowl the final over, trying to defend 8 off the final over, while staring at the unmissable scoreboard which indicated - If the game would stop right now due to rain - Islamabad United would win based on the DLS par score. That’s the kind of set up we are talking about when David Wiese came out to bowl. Equation was far from simple - the game could have stopped any time, and Wiese, with the ball in hand not only needed to pick the last two wickets, but also could not afford to lose any more runs. But more on that later. The batting flop show Lahore Qalandars have batted fairly well for the most part of the tournament. That has largely happened because of the exceptional form of Fakhar Zaman, who has amassed 585 runs in the tournament. Qalandars needed Zaman to fire on the night against batting heavy United - who on their day can possibly chase down 180-190 with ease - considering the batting depth that they possess. However, as it would turn out, it was not the night of Zaman at all. For that matter it was not the night of Qalandars batter at all. At the start of the innings, Qalandars were down by 9/2 in the first three overs, with barely any hope to get back in the match. But they fought back with a masterclass in counterattack from Abdullah Shafique who scored his half century in just 25 balls providing Qalandars a good base. There are nights when things go right, and there are nights when things go wrong. It was the latter one for the home side. They failed to capitalise on the start and were left reeling at 141/7 by the end of 19 overs. 141? Poof…Easy work for Alex Hales and co. In a world of Pakistani & Englishmen, a Namibian steals the show David Wiese’s story on Lahore tonight was a story of two overs. Two last ones to be specific. Not only did he save Qalandars while defending 8 runs, he also hit 3 sixes and 1 boundary in the last over of the first innings to completely change the complexion of the game. From 141/7, Lahore jumped to 168 - a monumental step, just from the optics point of view. Wiese stayed not out at 28 off 8 at a maddening strike rate of 350, which essentially became the difference between the two sides today. Alex Hales, Paul Stirling & the absence of Rashid Khan Barring Shaheen Shah Afridi and Fakhar Zaman, these are the three names that highlight a game between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United, you can go and ask any generic PSL fan in the world. But as things stood last week, none among these three were playing in Eliminator if their teams actually made it this far. Stirling had gone for national duties, Hales had left citing bubble fatigue and Rashid Khan went to play for Afghanistan in Bangladesh. However, thanks to a rule tweak in the PSL - agreed by all franchises two among these three returned. Alex Hales and Paul Stirling are a scary combination to face upfront - in any condition - in any league in the world. Stirling is a stand and deliver kind of a guy, a hacker for the lack of a better term, but an elite one at that. And on the other side, Alex Hales - former world number 1 T20I batter in the world - and for some, currently the best T20 opener in the world in current form. And things started off in an ominous tone as well. Shaheen Shah Afridi was hit for 14 in his first over by Stirling and alarm bells had rung for Lahore. However, in his return over (3rd of the chase) a pick up shot from Stirling landed into the palms of a sprinting Haris Rauf in long leg. A lucky escape for Shaheen indeed - who looked like he could go for a few in the night. Stirling's wicket brought in a landslide in the Islamabad team and there were 46/4 inside the first six overs. All this while Alex Hales stood from the other end having played just eight balls till that point. The Rashid Khan gap Lahore Qalandars possibly have the best bowling unit in the tournament. You have the fear factor in Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi, you have the newcomer in Zaman Khan, you have a great change up in David Wiese and if all else fails you have the HULK! Well not the Hulk, obviously, but Rashid Khan. Lahore missed the leg spinners services direly in the game as they saw Islamabad go from 46/4 in six to 118/4 by the 13th over. Azam Khan and Alex Hales were on a roll and Lahore looked lost. Qalandars are an exceptional unit Don’t let the viral story of Haris Rauf ‘Slapgate’ fool you. Qalandars are a great team and they know how to bounce off each other. When things looked lost, Qalandars gave a little more in their ground fielding. Stopped boundaries, put in their dives and that’s how they got their breakthrough. Rauf hit the stumps from short third man to find Azam Khan (40 off 28) short and then Kamran Ghulam (the guy Rauf slapped) took a stunning catch at extra cover to dismiss Hales (38 off 29). And guess who the bowler was? Haris Rauf. You just cannot make this up! Barring a Shaheen over in the middle, Qalandars tightened their screws in the last five and got crucial wickets of Asif and Hasan Ali - players who can really hit the ball out of the park. 17 was needed from the last 12 with three wickets in hand. Rauf gave away 9 of them but dismissed Asif Ali in the last ball of the 19th over and then Wiese and his cutters did the rest with rain looming large. A true final Nobody but David Wiese had a claim to today’s man of the match and he was paid due respect by the captain who spoke highly of the Namibian in the post match presentation. The final is set between two of the most loved sides in Multan and Lahore and it is anybody’s guess who will win the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League. However, if Qalandars can repeat what they did tonight, they will make the Mohammad Rizwan-led side work really hard for the trophy on Sunday, 27 February in the Gaddafi Stadium at Lahore.

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PSL Eliminator 2 | Abdullah Shafique fightback helps Lahore post defendable total

Lahore Qalandars were off to one of their worst starts of the season after being two down for just seven runs in the first three overs. Islamabad United’s Liam Dawson ruined Lahore’s party running riot through the top order dismissing the ever-dependable Fakhar Zaman for just one run. The English off spinner used the skidding new ball to beat Zaman for pace on the cut and then later brought one into Philip Salt castling his stumps. Dawson’s tight lines were complimented by pacer Athar Mahmood’s hard lengths in the powerplay and the duo managed to keep Lahore at check for the larger part of the first six overs. The team would have hoped to capitalise on the same, but the introduction of Abdullah Shafique seemed to be like a breath of fresh air as the right hander counterattacked his way through trouble. A rapid half century in just 25 balls meant that Lahore were back on their feet and were able to score 82 in the first 10 overs, a big improvement from 9/2 at three. Just as Lahore would have hoped to ramp off that fightback, two back to back wickets of Shafique and young Harry Brooks put them under the spot. If it were not for the poor fielding efforts of Islamabad United, Lahore would have been put under the spot much earlier than they actually were. A struggling innings from Samit Patel (21 off 18) and Mohammad Hafeez (28 off 28) ended up further denting but a late onslaught from David Weise made sure that the home team were still afloat in their aspirations to enter the final game. He accumulated 27 runs off Waqas Maqsood’s final over single handedly to shift the momentum of the game. For Islamabad, Dawson was the cream of the crop, picking two wickets for 24 while Mohammad Wasim Jr picked 2 from his three overs bowled.