"You don't need Disprin but Shreyas Iyer for that" - Aakash Chopra on the selection headache for Team India

Aakash Chopra believes Shreyas Iyer's excellent knocks in the last two T20Is against Sri Lanka have compounded the selection headaches for Team India.

Iyer smashed an unbeaten 57 off just 28 deliveries in the first T20I to help Team India set a massive 200-run target for the Lankans. He followed that up with another unbeaten 74-run knock in Saturday's encounter to help seal the series for the hosts.

While reviewing the second T20I in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted the selection dilemma caused by Iyer's knock. He said:

"It's a big question for India now on where to make Shreyas Iyer play because you cannot drop him now but you cannot play him as well. It's a very sweet headache, you don't need Disprin but Shreyas Iyer for that."

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that a plethora of frontline batters are missing in the current Indian squad. Chopra explained:

"There is a lot of discussion about him [Shreyas]. It is because we say that there is no KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav at the moment. We can also add Hardik Pandya to it."

Aakash Chopra reckons KL Rahul is also being considered for a middle-order spot and not as an opener. He reasoned:

"Potentially all of them are middle-order players because you are not looking at KL Rahul also as an opener, you want a left-right combination at the top because you did that in the World Cup as well."

The former India opener highlighted that Iyer was last in the pecking order of middle-order batters before the series against Sri Lanka. Chopra elaborated:

"If you want left-right at the top and Ishan Kishan as an opener, then they all are middle order. Shreyas Iyer's number was last among them. The talks were that Surya had gone ahead and Rishabh, Rahul and Kohli are in any case ahead, then what will happen to Iyer, God knows if he will get a chance or not."

The Indian team management will certainly have a tough time while finalizing their middle order if all the players are fit and available. KL Rahul might have to bat at the top of the order to resolve some of their selection issues.

---

"My Player of the Match has to be Shreyas Iyer" - Aakash Chopra

Shreyas Iyer played a responsible knock in the second T20I against Sri Lanka

Aakash Chopra also picked Shreyas Iyer as his Player of the Match for the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka. He observed:

"My Player of the Match has to be Shreyas Iyer. Whenever he has got the opportunities, he has made the best use of them. When he got to bat in the 12th over in the first match, he played the role of a finisher, took India to 199 and here when he came into bat in the 2nd over itself, he played an amazing knock."

The 44-year-old was particularly appreciative of Iyer showing the willingness to play second fiddle to Ravindra Jadeja towards the latter stages of India's run chase. Chopra stated:

"He didn't let Praveen Jayawickrama bowl at all, continuously batted well and remained unbeaten till the end. The best part was the maturity at the end, that he has to finish the match. He allowed Jaddu to hit from the other end. That's the kind of mindset you really like."

Jadeja smoked 45 out of the 58-run partnership between him and Iyer. He also faced the majority of deliveries during this period as the Mumbaikar was mostly content in giving him the strike.