• Home
  • Who Said What
  • He Batted Fearlessly Yuvraj Lauds Shreyas Iyer For World Cup Semifinal Ton

'He Batted Fearlessly' - Yuvraj Lauds Shreyas Iyer For World Cup Semifinal Ton 

image-lp3mjsgiShreyas Iyer is India's third-best run-maker (Twitter)

Yuvraj Singh lavished effusive praise on Shreyas Iyer's "fearless" outlook at the crease during his magnificent century in the ICC World Cup 2023 semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai. The former middle-order giant hailed the Indian No.4 for his terrific knock of 105 off 70 deliveries in the team's comprehensive victory at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. 

On a day when much of the fanfare and accolades were reserved for legendary Virat Kohli's emotional 50th One-Day International ton, Yuvraj reckoned, it was Iyer's aggressive innings that proved to be a point of difference for Men in Blue by elevating their score to a daunting 397/4 in 50 overs. 

Despite their great strength as a batting unit and Kohli's measured century, when India could've finished 330-350 on a flatbed of a Wankhede surface and raised New Zealand's hopes of upstaging the tournament hosts, Iyer's second consecutive hundred of the World Cup pushed them to irrevocable ascendency. 

Yuvraj Applauds Shreyas Iyer 

Speaking to 'Aaj Tak', Yuvraj made it a point to address the lack of appreciation for Iyer when Kohli's memorable surpassing of maestro Sachin Tendulkar's hundreds tally hogged the limelight and said the cricketer batted with great belligerence and dominant streak. 

"Virat Kohli is probably the one of the greatest of all time, but the reason India posted such a big total in the Semis was Shreyas Iyer. He's batted fearlessly," Yuvraj said. 

Notably, Yuvraj had a change of heart when it comes to Iyer's presence and impact value to the Indian team's magnificent run at the World Cup. The 2011 champion had criticised the Mumbaikar for his initial struggles and strokemaking after his failure during the league match versus England. 

Still fresh in his recovery trail from a back injury, Iyer took time to regain his best mojo for the World Cup even as he struck a century against Australia in the series prior to the tournament and made a sensible half-century versus Pakistan. 

But the outside noise seemed to have spurred the critical Indian No.4 on. With a century apiece against the Netherlands and now New Zealand, Iyer heads to the final in Ahmedabad as the third-highest Indian run-getter behind legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with 526 runs in 10 innings.