Even though Shreyas Iyer was away from the Indian T20I side for almost three years, but it never felt like that big a gap since the 31-year-old was playing in the IPL, and batting really well. But then, his T20I return, albeit as the captain of this side, wasn’t a memorable one as he could only manage to score 3, in the 1st IND vs IRE T20I at Belfast.
Shreyas Iyer falls cheaply in IND vs IRE
All it took was 7 deliveries by Matt Hollard, to get rid of the Indian captain. Iyer tried to flick a full ball outside off, and in the process was caught at square leg, that ended his first innings as the skipper. But then if one looks at his T20I career closely, consistency has been bit of an issue for him.
Let us take a look from 2021. That year in 8 matches, he scored 151 runs, where the SR was 136 and had just one fifty to his name. The following year, 2022 turned out to be his best — where in 17 matches he scored 463 with 4 fifties and the SR was 141. 2023 he played only 2, where he got 61 runs. And then now, in 1 match — 3 runs.
Needs to step up soon
Though this might be attributed to the constant in an out – but that issue should go away now. He will get maximum game-time as the skipper of the side, and perhaps the numbers will also improve. His superior IPL record suggests so. The last three years have been exceptional for him.
IN 2024, when he led KKR to the title, he went on to score 351 runs in 15 matches, at an average of 39 and an SR of 146. The following year, as the skipper of PBKS, he scored 604 runs in 17 matches, at an average of 50.33 and an SR of 175. Then this year, in 13 innings he got 498 runs at an average of 55.33, where the strike-rate was 168.
His wicket, meanwhile, also kickstarted the collapse of the Indian batting line up in the match. From being 60/2 at one stage, they became 100/6 at the end of the 12th over, chasing 183.
Cricket
Shreyas Iyer-Kishan failure, Tilak & Prasidh's horror show headline India's historic loss to Ireland
