Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has heaped praise on Shreyas Iyer, saying no one plays spin better than him in this Indian side. Iyer scored a half-century as India beat South Africa 243 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, November 5.
Speaking to Star Sports, Kaif said Iyer is the best player of spin in this Indian side, adding that his strength is playing spin in the middle overs. Iyer scored 77 runs off 87 balls, hitting seven boundaries an two sixes in Kolkata.
“”He plays spin exceptionally well. I have worked with him in the IPL. In my opinion, no one plays spin better than him in this team because he takes single and doubles as well, and hits sixes straight down the ground. We saw him hitting a 106-meter six in the last match at the Wankhede. In the middle overs, when spin creates pressure with dot balls, he finds boundaries there. That is his strength,” said Kaif.
He went on to say that Iyer kept hitting the South African spinners by dancing down the ground. Iyer’s knock helped India post 326 for 5 in the first innings in Kolkata.
“No matter how good the bowlers are in the middle, the runs don’t stop from his willow. Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj were there but he kept on dancing down the track and hitting boundaries and kept putting pressure on the bowlers,” Kaif added.
Kaif said Iyer made batting easy for Virat Kohli as he was hitting boundaries in the middle overs. Kohli and Iyer stitched a 134-run stand for the third wicket against South Africa.
“He made batting slightly easier for Virat because when he wasn’t getting boundaries in the middle, Shreyas Iyer was hitting boundaries there. So he relieved the pressure slightly on Virat’s batting,” said Kaif.
