'Shreyas Iyer is not the only player who failed' - Sunil Gavaskar backs Iyer for a marathon run in Indian team

In the wake of an underwhelming Test series against South Africa, Sunil Gavaskar has backed Shreyas Iyer for a sustained run in the format despite his lacklustre performance. Iyer managed only 41 runs in two Tests against the Proteas, averaging a dismal 13.67. While he showed promise with a 31-run knock in the first innings of the first Test, subsequent innings yielded scores of six and a duck before his crucial contribution in the second innings of the Cape Town Test.

The batting struggles were evident as only Virat Kohli (172) and KL Rahul (113) surpassed 100 runs, maintaining an average above 20 in the series. Iyer found himself with the second-lowest average among the top six batters, with only Yashasvi Jaiswal trailing behind at 12.50. Gavaskar, however, emphasised that blaming Iyer alone for India's subpar batting wouldn't be fair, pointing out the lack of substantial contributions beyond Kohli and Rahul.

“Shreyas Iyer is not the only player who failed because it's not easy for any batter on these pitches. If you see, barring Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, no one else scored too many runs. You cannot point fingers at just one player. So I feel the selection committee will also think that he should probably be given more chances,” said Gavaskar while speaking to Star Sports.

Shreyas Iyer has to work a lot to score runs on foreign pitches: Sanjay Manjrekar

The 29-year-old's Test record of 707 runs at an average of 39.27 encompassed 12 matches, but outside subcontinental conditions, his struggles became apparent. With a mere 34 runs in two innings against England and the recent South Africa series, he faced challenges on seaming pitches. Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted the right-handed batter's difficulties and attributed them to his aggressive style forced by such conditions. Manjrekar suggested that this approach might hinder Iyer's consistency in the middle order.

“It's very difficult for him because the problem is with the defence against both full and short deliveries. So, he has to work a lot to score runs on foreign pitches. If you don't have the defence, you have to take risks to score runs and when you take too many risks with a counterattacking approach, you don't have the consistency,” said Manjrekar.