But Shreyas Iyer seemed to have solved this problem as he made a huge impact in his first World Cup. Coming back from injury, he was under pressure to make a big-performance in the middle order.Iyer showcased aggressive cricket, smashing back-to-back centuries against the Netherlands and New Zealand in the semifinals.His impressive performances saw him score a total of 526 runs in 10 matches so.
Former India spinner Harbhajan hailed Iyer’s performance saying the batter has emerged as India’s unsung hero and his contribution was massive in India’s journey to the final
“When we talk about selfless knocks then there is another player that comes to my mind. He has been India’s unsung hero so far. His contribution has been massive and there hasn’t been enough discussion about him. Look at his average of 75. He also smashed 2 centuries and 3 fifties and the pace with which he scored those runs shows that his contribution hasn’t been any less than other members of the team,” he said on his YouTube channel.
No Indian batter has ever scored a century in a World Cup final but Harbhajan wishes to see Iyer to achieve this milestone against Australia.
“He was first injured, then made the team and the kind of cricket he has played since then…if there has been one player who has scored at a quick rate it has been Iyer in the middle overs. So huge credit to him. If he scores a century in the final, he will become the first player to score a hat-trick of tons in a World Cup edition. And I want him to score a century,” he added.
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Earlier on Wednesday, Gambhir praised Iyer’s century saying it was his knock that helped India post a match-winning total of 397 for 4.
“It is unfortunate that he isn’t getting as much appreciation as others. Shreyas Iyer, for me, has produced unbelievable batting. He didn’t let the pressure get to Virat Kohli. The difference between 350 and 390 was Shreyas Iyer. Imagine how much pressure India would have been in, if India had set a target of 350,” Gambhir said.