No.6 is not the right batting spot for Shreyas Iyer: Aakash Chopra

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed his displeasure regarding Shreyas Iyer’s batting position in the ongoing T20I series against England. The Mumbai player, who bats at no.3 for his IPL franchise and has previously batted for India in the shortest format at no.4, has been pushed down the order during the current series.  

Iyer, batted at no. 5, below Rishabh Pant in the first match of the tournament. He made a crucial 67 in a score of 124, something which Chopra pointed out while making his statement. In the second game, Iyer didn’t get a lot of time to bat but he was in the same position. However, for the subsequent matches, he was pushed to no.6, a position where he has hardly ever batted in the T20 format. 

In the fourth T20I, Iyer batting at no.6 playing a crucial knock for the team. His 18-ball 37 helped India reach a good score of 185 for 8, finishing on a high in the death overs. According to Chopra, the no.6 position might have worked for Iyer in that match, but he isn’t a long term option for that position. The cricketer turned commentator also said that Iyer has no option but to bat at the position in which his team demands. 

If you are pushed into the water, you don’t have any other option: Aakash Chopra

“He does not have any other option. As they say, if you are pushed into the water, you don’t have any other option but to swim as the other option is to drown. So he has to bat at whatever position given to him,” Chopra told ESPNCricinfo.

Chopra continued, “He was batting at No.5 there, now he is batting at No.6. No.6 is not the right spot for him, he has batted well, you need to pat his back but he is not a long-term option at the position you are making him bat.” The former batsman was also in the opinion that captain Virat Kohli has to bat at a position which he doesn’t prefer because of too many top-order players.

“Shreyas Iyer is making the best use of the opportunity given to him but it is not the best number for him and it is slightly a problem of their own making because there are so many top-order batsmen that even Kohli is not getting to bat at his preferred batting slot,” Chopra said. Iyer has batted at no.4 in eight T20I matches, scoring 250 runs with an average of 50 and a strike rate of 151. He also had two fifties at that position.