Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has lauded Shreyas Iyer for his gritty half century against Australia in the 5th T20I of the series. Iyer’s half-century helped India to reach a respectable score of 160/8 in a sticky track at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, 3 December. This turned out to be enough for the side as the bowlers put in a combined effort to win a final-over thriller.

IND vs AUS, 5th T20I: Report

Mohammad Kaif took to his social media account on Monday and tweeted in support of the batter and said that it was time to focus on Iyer’s strengths rather than his weakness.

“Shreyas Iyer has had a phenomenal run recently and it should be appreciated. High time the world starts talking about his strengths and not keep pointing to his weakness,” Kaif wrote on Twitter.

The India batter was heavily criticised for his dismissal against Australia in the final of the World Cup 2023. Iyer got stuck on his backfoot expecting a short ball and ended up edging the ball back to the keeper. The former India batter was however correct in pointing out that Iyer has had a remarkable last month and has scored in excess of 500 runs in the world tournament.

Iyer also had a difficult time leading up to the World Cup 2023. He was out of action for several months due to his back injury and had to put in an incredible amount of work to prove his fitness ahead of the tournament.

After the World Cup, Iyer took a short break and played the final two T20Is of the Australia series. Iyer was not able to do well in the 4th T20I, but dug deep in the final match of the bilateral series to help India to a competitive score, which later turned out to be a winning total in the game.