WI vs IND 2022 | Feel for Shreyas Iyer, had walked into the side with so much promise, expresses Ajay Jadeja

07/24/2022

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Ajay Jadeja expressed his disappointment over Shreyas Iyer's current situation, stating that technical faults had plagued the batsman's game as well as impacted him mentally. He feels Iyer has not lived up to expectations and needed a century in the first ODI to show everyone he is over the hump.

Shreyas Iyer was touted by many as the next big thing in Indian cricket, destined to lead in the footsteps of the likes of Virat Kohli. His test debut seemed to be an indication of the same, where he hit a century in the first innings before following it up with a flamboyant fifty in the second. However, he is yet to record another international century across formats since, albeit the chances for him have been somewhat limited.

Nevertheless, former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja is of the opinion Iyer has far from delivered given his potential and the expectations it built up among the fans. Even though the 27-year-old recorded a fine half-century in the first ODI against West Indies at Queen's Park Oval, the renowned commentator was left unimpressed.

“I feel for the man. I mean...he walked into the Indian side with so much promise. A year ago we would be thinking about talking about him as the future India captain and leading the side. He starts off great and has a Test match hundred. Suddenly, couple of times he has got out to short balls and not going into the technical factors behind it, but that is playing so much on his mind that you saw that in this innings,” Jadeja said as per Hindustan Times.

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Iyer came in to bat at number three in the Caribbean after the openers had established a fine partnership of 119. He went on to rack up a 57-ball 54 against the underdogs, lacing the knock with five boundaries and two maximums. Despite the score, there was an element of caution in Iyer's game and his lack of conversion bothered Jadeja given the inferior quality of the opposition.

“The way he approached today was very similar to Shikhar Dhawan. So you need a big score to get out of it. He had a decent game I would say. He would be disappointed though. With this bowling attack, you would want to make the most of it. Get a 100 and nobody will have anything to say. With this score you cannot say that he is over the problem he has had. You cannot look at this game like we did to India versus England. For me, this is a practice game.”

Shreyas Iyer is next expected to be in action for the second ODI on Sunday at the very same venue.