Despite wrapping up the T20Is against Australia, a few concerns remain, the biggest being India’s middle order, especially the No. 4 and No. 5. The form of Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer is a bit of a worry given their failure to cash in on opportunities. While Samson disappointed with 48 runs in the three T20Is, Iyer had scores of 2, 38, 19, 12* and a golden duck in the five outings he had in Australia.
Former India opening batsman Aakash Chopra feels in order for India to be better placed in matches going forward, they need player around Virat Kohli who can score quickly. In this case, the job was on Iyer and Samson, and although Hardik Pandya rose to the occasion, Chopra believes India need more than one hard-hitting batsman. As for Iyer, Chopra felt the batsman would be disappointed with his performances in Australia.
Iyer was in good nick heading into the Australia tour, scoring 519 runs for the Delhi Capitals and leading the team to the IPL final. Iyer had one decent score of 38, while on other occasions, the batsman struggled to get starts. After being dropped from the first T20Is, he scored an crucial unbeaten 12 in the second T20I which India won, but was dismissed for a first ball duck in the dead rubber.
