Extremely impressed with middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer's recent show in the white-ball format, former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri said adapting and refining batting techniques have led to significant improvements in his performance.
Shastri said the 30-year-old batter has made subtle adjustments to his stance and bat positioning, which allow him to play shots both sides of the wicket with great effect.
He has been able to pull, hook, and cut effectively by refining his batting techniques, Shastri noted.
"He used to be a side-on player. He's prepared to go back and across now, and with a very upright stance. That allows him to play both sides of the wicket. If they bang it in short, he can pull and hook. And if there's any room outside the off stump, he can cut as well," Shastri was quoted as saying by the ICC.
Iyer has been consistently performing well in white-ball cricket. He was the second-highest run scorer in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan and Dubai, which India won. He finished the tournament with a tally of 243 runs at an average of 48.60.
Shastri explained how Iyer's improved stance provides him with more space to play shots, eliminating the previous vulnerability of being targeted on the leg side. He praised the batter's timing, hand-eye coordination, and his ability to play big shots when he gets into position early.
"So that opens up the game for him rather than being too leg-side where the rib cage was being targeted. Now he's got space to go both ways, and he's such a good timer of the ball. He's got good hands, and when he gets into position early, then he can be devastating, as is seen nowadays," he said.
Although Iyer is an absolute certainty in India's white-ball (ODI and T20) sides, a Test recall will depend on the form of other players and the overall team composition, Shastri reasoned.
"Considering the manner in which he's played for India over the last 18 months, he's become an absolute certainty in the white-ball format, especially in ODIs. He can press his case for a Test recall, but it will depend on several factors," he added.
India's major upcoming fixtures include a tour of England, where they are scheduled to play a five-match Test series, their first assignments of the new ICC World Test Championship cycle.
Iyer played his last Test in 2024, against England. In the second match of the five-match series in Visakhapatnam, he made scores of 27 and 29 in the two innings.
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