Shreyas Iyer shares picture with ISL star Wayne Vaz, who was once his schoolmate

Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer is currently with the Indian squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at home and his footballer friend wished him luck ahead of the second game in Indore on Tuesday. The first match in Guwahati on Sunday was abandoned because of wet pitch.

Iyer recently posted a picture on Instagram with his former schoolmate Wayne Vaz who plays football for NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) while recalling his school days. There, Vaz too recalled how their respective sporting disciplines brought them together during their school days.

Shreyas Iyer has been India’s answer to their No.4 problem

Shreyas, 25, who made a comeback to the Indian side after a while last year, hit two back-to-back half-centuries in the ODI series against the West Indies in December. The right-hand batsman, who has also impressed as the captain of Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, has come up quickly as India’s answer to their No.4 puzzle in the limited-overs.

The Indian team management earnestly believes that the team has left behind its problem with the No.4 slot — a challenge that had hurt them in the ICC World Cup last year. With yet another ICC World Cup coming up this year-end, India will be banking heavily on Shreyas to rise to the occasion.

However, Shreyas also had his share of criticism which came from former India batsman Vinod Kambli. The former Mumbai southpaw was not happy over his state’s poor performance in the Ranji Trophy this year and was also irked by the fact that players like Shreyas and Shivam Dube haven’t turned up for their state team.

While Shreyas has been busy with the national duty of late, all-rounder Sube, who had a fabulous all-round run in Mumbai’s Ranji campaign last year, also made his international debut recently and has been picked for the T20I series against Lanka. Mumbai have won only one of their three games in Ranji Trophy this year and have been beaten by Railways and Karnataka in their last two fixtures at home.

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