He Was Stepping Into Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara’s Shoes: Rohit Sharma Praises Young India Batter Shreyas Iyer

India captain Rohit Sharma was all praise for Shreyas Iyer after India beat Sri Lanka in the day-night Test to clean sweep the series 2-0 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Shreyas scored half-centuries in both innings of the match and was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his showing in the second Test. Rohit said that Shreyas had big shoes to fill after veteran batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were dropped from the Test side for the Sri Lanka series.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Rohit said he was impressed with Shreyas for carrying his exceptional form from T20Is to the longest format of the games. The India captain said Iyer will only get better once he starts touring with the team regularly.

“Shreyas just carried on from where he left off in the T20 series against Sri Lanka. He seemed to carry that form into the Test series. He knew he was stepping into the big shoes of guys like Rahane and Pujara, but he has everything that he requires. He will be better now when he starts travelling,” said Rohit.

Iyer scored a sparkling 92 off just 98 balls in the first innings on a turning track to help post 252. The right-hander then backed his efforts with a 67-run knock in the second innings to help India post a 447-run for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka were skittled out for 208 as Jasprit Bumrah (3/23) and spinner Ravichandra Ashwin (4/55) broke through the Sri Lankan batting line-up.

For Sri Lanka, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne scored a battling ton while Kusal Mendis complemented him well with a fine half-century.

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Earlier, India had bowled out Sri Lanka for a paltry of 109 after scoring 252 and 303 for nine declared in the first and second innings, respectively.

This was India’s 14th straight win since Rohit was appointed as India’s captain.