Shreyas Iyer, who will return to competitive cricket in the second phase of IPL 2021, has been picked as the reserve for T20 World Cup.
Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir reckoned that the fight for the lone place in the middle-order in India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 squad was between Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer and was in favour of the latter's exclusion, who has been picked as part of the travelling reserves.
Shreyas Iyer, who had suffered a shoulder injury in March this year during the first ODI against England underwent surgery and because of the rehabilitation process and recovery, hasn't played competitive cricket for almost five months now and will return in the second phase of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Talking on the Star Sports show about why Suryakumar Yadav was preferred, Gambhir said that the 30-year old batsman is much more versatile and just has a different class.
"Surya is a completely different class, as compared to Shreyas Iyer. He is much more versatile, he is much more unorthodox as well. In T20 cricket, you need people that are unorthodox, you want people who can hit that ball in different areas, and that is what T20 cricket is all about.
"He can lap you, he can late cut you, he can hit you over extra cover; he’s got all the shots, especially at No.4, because sometimes No.4 is the most tricky position to bat in T20 cricket, probably the easiest is the top three, but No.4, because you might be in when you have lost two early wickets and you still want to continue the momentum," Gambhir added.
Gambhir said that Surya can play in both gears, which probably Shreyas Iyer doesn't adding that he is also coming off from a long lay-off.
“Sometimes you come into the middle when you have got what 130 for 2, and you have got to continue with the momentum. So, Surya’s got both kinds of change, which probably Shreyas Iyer doesn’t have. And again, you gotta be mindful that he is coming after a serious injury and you never know what kind of a form he would be in the second leg of IPL as well. So, they’ve gone with someone, who has done really well, since he has gone into international cricket," Gambhir further said.
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