Indian batter Shreyas Iyer said that he would like to continue as a middle-order batter for India during the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, adding that he is flexible as a batter and can play at any spot.
India’s ICC Champions Trophy campaign will kickstart with a clash against Bangladesh on February 20, followed by a high-volateg game against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23 and then a match against New Zealand on March 2. India will be playing its matches in Dubai under hybrid model, instead of Pakistan.
While the team has not been announced yet officially, fans are anticipating Iyer to light up the tournament after he enjoyed a rich run of form across all formats of the game at domestic level last year, winning four trophies, including the Indian Premier League and Syed Mushtaq Trophy as a captain.
Speaking in an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Iyer said on playing Champions Trophy as a middle-order batter, “Absolutely . I’m flexible and ready to bat anywhere in the batting order. KL and I, we played that important role in the middle during the World Cup . We had a great season together. It was just the last bit [the final] that we could not execute the way we wanted to. It will be a proud moment for me if I were to be picked in the Champions Trophy side to represent the country.”
Iyer’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign was an all-time great campaign as far as middle-order batters are concerned. He ended as the tournament’s seventh-highest run-getter with 530 runs in 11 matches at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of 113.24, with the best score of 128*. He made two centuries and three fifities in the tournament.
He became the first middle-order batter to smash 500-plus runs in a single World Cup edition. The previous best-run tally by a middle-order batter in a single World Cup was by New Zealand’s Scott Styris. In the 2007 edition of the tournament, Styris smashed 499 runs at an average of 83.16, with one century and four fifties in nine innings.
