Indian cricket crew coach Rahul Dravid with Shreyas Iyer throughout a follow session in New Delh. File picture
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
India coach Rahul Dravid described Shreyas Iyer as the backbone of their middle order after the batsman made an unbeaten 128 in Sunday’s World Cup victory over the Netherlands to make sure the hosts received all 9 of their group stage video games.
Iyer adopted up his scores of 82 in opposition to Sri Lanka and 77 in opposition to fellow semi-finalists South Africa along with his maiden World Cup hundred in the firm of fellow centurion KL Rahul as India scored 410-4 earlier than bowling out the Dutch for 250.
The right-hander’s again damage earlier this yr had briefly left India with out a settled batsman at quantity 4 forward of the World Cup, with the crew having already tried a dozen gamers since Yuvraj Singh’s retirement in 2017.
“Shreyas is the backbone of our middle order and we all know how tough it’s been for us to find a good number four batter for the last 10 years,” Dravid stated on Star Sports.
Speaking on Saturday, Dravid informed reporters Iyer introduced a relaxed temperament to the desk in the high-pressure function.
“You just look at even some of his knocks under pressure, how he’s able to actually bring the best out of himself under those pressure situations,” Dravid stated.
“Everyone will have areas they need to work on and improve. There’s no complete batsman who can say ‘I know everything’. At the end of the day, you have to be judged by the results you produce, the runs you score and when you score them.”
Netherlands all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe stated India’s domination in the group stage put them in a powerful place for Wednesday’s semi-final in opposition to New Zealand in Mumbai.
“India are a well-balanced side. They have match-winners all the way through. They’ve shown it in this World Cup,” stated Van der Merwe.
“They’re going to be a tough team to beat. The other teams also, South Africa have got match-winners and the consistency of New Zealand and Australia … It’s going to be interesting, but I think India do shape up well.”
The Netherlands completed backside of the desk to overlook out on qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan, however Van der Merwe took coronary heart from their World Cup journey.
“Obviously, there’s so much improvement that still needs to happen,” he added. “But the boys stuck to it and we’ve got to look to the next tournament, whenever that is, and improve.”
