(Cricket news) India inflicted a 3rd consecutive whitewash in a T20I series this time against Sri Lanka. While the previous two against New Zealand and West Indies have been team performances this one on some level has been a one man show. If there is a singular reason why India won the series in convincing fashion, it was Shreyas Iyer.

Just under a year ago in an ODI against Sri Lanka, Shreyas Iyer dislocated his shoulder while fielding. He was subsequently ruled for the first half of the IPL 2021. With Rishabh Pant doing a fine job as stand-in captain, Iyer wasn't given back his captaincy upon returning in the second half. Since coming back from the injury, Iyer has gone from strength to strength. The 27-year-old scored a century on his Test debut against New Zealand and was named player of the match. He then fetched a Rs 12.25 crore bid for KKR in the IPL Mega Auction and was appointed their captain. Iyer was left out of the playing XI for the first 2 T20Is against West Indies and got a chance only when Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were rested in the 3rd match. 

Pant and Kohli were once again rested for the Sri Lanka series while Suryakumar Yadav was ruled out with an injury. Iyer grabbed the opportunity with both arms and got the scores of 57*(28), 74*(44), 73*(45) scoring a total of 204 Runs at a Strike Rate 174.35. Iyer became the only Indian player along with Virat Kohli to score 3 fifty plus scores in a 3 match bilateral white ball series. The Mumbai batter also became the 2nd player after David Warner to score 200 plus runs in a T20I without being dismissed.

The harsh truth is that despite these performances Iyer may not find a place in the Playing XI for the World Cup. That will definitely not be the end of it as he has plenty more to look forward to. He is set to get a long run in the Test format starting against Sri Lanka after Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were dropped. Iyer may be asked to bat anywhere between number 3 and 5. Iyer may just be in the form of his life and a good Test series against Sri Lanka will just go on to prove that. 

Rohit Sharma has a lot of positives in this series but the fielding has once again been sloppy at times. The only other negative is death bowlingas India bowling first in the last two matches leaked way too many runs in the last 5 overs. Former Indian Captain Sunil Gavaskar highlighted that the death bowling needs to be looked at as India can't afford to leak runs towards the end of the innings on a regular basis. 

Also read: India equal Afghanistan's record by winning 12th consecutive T20I game