Jaffer: 'Absolutely amazing how easily Shreyas dispatches the ball into the crowds'

Shreyas Iyer is "probably the best six-hitter" among current Indian batters. This was Wasim Jaffer's assessment after Iyer led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chepauk in their IPL 2025 contest on Wednesday.

Iyer could always take down spin. Recently, he has upped his game against pace, too. With PBKS chasing 191 on Wednesday, he scored 72 off 41 balls with five fours and four sixes. It was his back-to-back sixes against Matheesha Pathirana that shut the door down on CSK. In ten matches so far this season, Iyer has hit 25 sixes, second only to Nicholas Pooran's 34.

"I am really impressed with the way Shreyas Iyer has been hitting sixes," Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out show. "We have seen since the 50-over World Cup [in 2023]. [He is] probably the best six-hitter across spin bowling as well as fast bowling.

"How easily he dispatches the ball into the crowds - it's absolutely amazing. He is never in two minds. You hardly see him mistime it. It doesn't just carry over the boundary, it goes really long. Looks like he has worked really hard at that. Across all the Indian batters, he is somebody who you feel can hit sixes with ease."

Iyer came out to bat in the fifth over of the chase and added 72 off 50 balls with Prabhsimran Singh for the second wicket. When Iyer got out, PBKS needed just three from eight balls.

"For me, his mentality when chasing a total stood out," Daren Ganga, Jaffer's co-panellist on the show, said. "He has dispelled that notion of taking the game deep. He is someone who will not leave a lot of runs for other batters, which is a critical thing in the modern T20 game.

"He really put his team into a commanding position. When it's two required in the last over, he's done the heavy lifting that makes it very, very easy for the other batters. Once he's at the crease, he's sort of committed to walk the hard yards.

"The other thing I'd like to say is when you look at Prabhsimran batting in the powerplay, going deep into the middle phase. And then you have Shreyas Iyer batting all the way into the third phase. You look at the teams that have been successful this season, like a Gujarat Titans (GT), batters are transcending the different phases of the innings. That to me is an essential goal to set internally."