Sunil Gavaskar names ‘the next big thing’ in Indian cricket

Team India has registered yet another series whitewash against Sri Lanka, a fifth consecutive at home under the new captain Rohit Sharma. On Monday, India won by 238 runs to defeat Sri Lanka in the pink-ball Test in Bengaluru to claim the series. With India not playing a Test match (baring the one-off Test against England) until the T20I World Cup in October, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar named the “next big thing” in Indian cricket.

India’s middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has performed impressively in the Bengaluru Test, scoring 92 and 67 in the two innings of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka. The former Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper is the first Indian batter to score two fifties in a single Day-Night Test.

On a tricky Chinnaswamy track that offered uneven bounce and turns, Shreyas Iyer laid the foundation with his 98-ball 92 in the first innings that helped India put up 252 on board. In the second innings, he scored a stable 67 that saw India set a target of 477 for Sri Lanka in the 4th innings of the game.

When asked if Iyer is the next big thing in Indian cricket, Sunil Gavaskar, in conversation with Star Sports, replied, “Yes certainly, he is looking like that." 

"Because anybody who plays the way he did...it is very attractive batting that he has, the shots that he has. He is a good-looking young man. So it all points to the fact that in the next six-eight months he could be the next big thing in Indian cricket," he further added.

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer was named the Player of the Match for his effort in the second Test.