Mumbai, (Samajweekly) Young India batsman Shreyas Iyer is open to batting anywhere in the order for his country despite being touted as the find for the much-debated No. 4 slot in limited-overs cricket.
“When you are playing for India, you need to be very much flexible at any position or whatever the team requires. I feel I can bat in any position depending on the situation,” Iyer said during an Instagram chat hosted by his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC).
Iyer also said he is happy to have made the No.4 position his. India did not have a settled No.4 batsman for a long time with the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant not able to seal the deal. At the 2019 World Cup also, India failed to find a fix and eventually bowed out in the semifinal stage to New Zealand.
“If you have been playing for India at that position for a year now that means you have sealed it. There should be no more questions asked about it,” Iyer said.
“When the debate was going on about No 4, performing at No 4 and completely sealing the position was really satisfying.”
Iyer also spoke about Delhi Capitals’ success in reaching the playoffs in 2019 after a gap of seven years.
“We had the sense of belief in ourselves and the team. Our aim was to make the play-offs.
“We had this one goal in our mind — to give our 100 per cent. Results didn’t really matter.
“Once we knew we did our preparation, we should not get bogged down and regret. We trained really hard and that stood out pretty well.
“We did and proved that we’re capable of winning the IPL. We hope the fans give the same energy this year. We don’t know what will happen or will it be held closed-door… Hopefully we will win the trophy this year,” said the DC captain.
Iyer also compared India skipper Virat Kohli to a lion in terms of his body language when he enters the ground.
“Whenever he goes out on the field it feels as if he’s playing his first game. He’s never tired, always energetic like a lion. You see a different body language when he enters the ground, something great to learn from him,” he said.
