Sachin Tendulkar impressed with Shreyas Iyer; says he will follow the Mumbaikar’s progress

Shreyas Iyer's record outing in Ranji Trophy 2015-16 has garnered compliments from none other than the man himself, Sachin Tendulkar, who is highly impressed by the batsman's abilities to play powerful shots.

For close to two and a half decades, there was only one master blaster in world cricket — Sachin Tendulkar. The Mumbai mauler ruled international cricket with his record breaking feats and though he did get little time to play for his home team Mumbai due to his Team India commitments, he always remained a stalwart at the domestic circuit.

More than two years after he bid adieu to the game, another young cricketer from his hometown is making news for his phenomenal batting. That player is Shreyas Iyer, the leading run scorer in the current Ranji season and the second highest scorer in a season ever. Iyer, who is blessed with tremendous ability to play powerful shots, has managed to impress one and all. In fact, quite a few are already calling him the new master blaster.

Well, now the player has garnered compliments from none other than the man himself. Tendulkar recently spoke to Times of India on Iyer and had this to say for the young man, “I’ve seen Shreyas Iyer bat in the Mumbai nets and in the IPL and I really liked what I saw. What struck me was his ability to play powerful shots. I don’t think he intentionally approaches an innings to attack from the start. I think it comes naturally to him.”

The legend further added, “The fact that he has scored consistently for the past couple of seasons shows that he has the ability to bat in a similar manner at the highest level. He knows exactly what he’s doing and understands his game. This is the time to celebrate his success and enjoy the fact that he’s performed brilliantly for Mumbai. I’m sure I’ll end up watching him bat soon, and will keep bumping into him. I’ll be following his progress.”

These are big words of praise for the young man coming in from arguably the greatest the game ever witnessed. Hopefully Iyer stays grounded after this success and prepares himself for the future challenges. He has so far scored 1,321 runs from 11 matches at an average of 73.38 in this domestic season. Iyer’s tally is second only to VVS Laxman’s 1,415 runs in nine matches for Hyderabad in 1999-2000 season in all time list of most runs in India’s domestic season.