When a journalist asked Shreyas Iyer about his problems with the short ball, he countered by asking, ‘What do you mean when you say it’s a problem for me,’’ and followed it with ``have you seen how many pull shots I’ve executed, especially those that have gone for a four?’’
Iyer had this angry exchange with a journalist at the post-match press conference after scoring a brilliant 82 against Sri Lanka at his home ground Wankhede a fortnight ago.
That knock started a remarkable run of scores for Iyer in this World Cup, batting at number four. He followed it with a 77 against South Africa, and then went on to clock hundreds in his next two matches — 128 not out against The Netherlands in the last league match in Bengaluru, and the magnificent 105 against New Zealand in the first semi-final in Mumbai.
The 28-year-old right-hander from Mumbai has solved the number four conundrum for India in ODIs, something that was a major problem in the previous edition of the World Cup. In the lead up to the 2019 World Cup in England, the Indian selectors gave Ambati Rayudu umpteen chances and groomed him for that position. But, when the time came for selections, the Hyderabadi batsman was not considered, but the “three dimensional” Vijay Shankar was preferred.
India tried various batsmen in the fourth slot, including KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, and Shankar for the initial matches, before Rishabh Pant occupied that position in the latter stages of the tournament, where India exited in the semi-final.
For this World Cup, Iyer was the chosen one for this spot. This, despite Iyer missing a number of matches since the start of IPL up to the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in September, as he was recovering from a back injury that required surgery.
In this World Cup, the roles of all the players have been specified and each one has been carrying them out to perfection. Iyer has amassed 526 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.14, with two centuries and three fifties. He began the tournament against Australia with a duck, hitting Josh Hazlewood straight to cover with little foot movement. Now Iyer is the third highest run-getter for India after Virat Kohli (711) and Rohit Sharma (550). He is also the seventh highest in the tournament among all batsmen.
Iyer got into form by remaining unbeaten on 25 against Afghanistan, which India won by eight wickets, sharing 68 runs for the unbroken third wicket with Kohli.
Iyer showed immense courage when he played against Pakistan in front of one lakh Indian spectators. He scored his first World Cup half-century — 53 not out — and looked at ease against Pakistani spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, against whom he scored the winning runs, including a one-bounce four to long-on dancing down the wicket.
Iyer is more at ease against spinners than pacers, especially when it comes to the short ball. But Iyer plays such balls with the pull shot, a stroke that people consider his weakness, but with which he does not agree.
He is unafraid to step out to the spinners and deposit them well beyond the boundary. The six he hit off Kasun Rajitha of Sri Lanka in Mumbai over long-on travelled 106 metres, the longest six of this World Cup, until New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell went one metre further against Ravindra Jadeja in the semi-final.
An irritated Iyer said to the journalist that night, “If you're trying to hit a ball, you could get out. Irrespective of whether it’s a short ball or over-pitched. If I get bowled two-three times to an in-swinger, you all would say, ‘He can't play in-swingers’. A player can get out on any type of delivery. You guys have started this, `He can't play a short ball,’ and people are picking that up every now and then.
“In Wankhede, the bounce is pretty even and more than other pitches. I've played a majority of my games here as I’m from Mumbai, so I know how to tackle it. It's just that when I go to hit some shots, sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not. And the majority of the time it hasn't worked for me, maybe that's the reason you think it's a problem for me. But in my mind, I know there's no problem.”
Iyer even told the broadcasters after the semi-final win: “I was very angry. I was not showing it, but I knew my time would come and I’d prove myself. And it has come now, at the right time.”
Iyer has faith in his abilities, and knows that the management has full trust in his capabilities. “That is the way he plays” is what the coaching staff and experts often say when batsmen repeatedly get out in a particular manner. But those same shots have fetched them runs at other times. Like Sharma has fallen to the hook and the pull as much as he has cleared the boundary with them, Iyer will not hesitate to go for the pull if the ball is there to be pulled.
“I have faith in myself, in my skills, and my experience. I know how to play certain deliveries. I may get out again and again, but I don't mind, as long as I have faith in myself and my teammates believe in me and support me. That is a motivating factor for me. I don't pay attention to anything else,” Iyer explained.
Iyer has a wide range of strokes and has sent spinners sailing many a time. Eight sixes and four fours featured in his latest ODI hundred, the fifth of his career, on Wednesday. He has smashed 24 sixes in this World Cup alone, second to Sharma’s 28, and joint second with Australia’s David Warner.
Sometimes, Iyer does not get his due for his cricketing skills. His magnificent 105 in the semi-final in only 70 balls was overshadowed by the record-breaking 50th ODI ton of Kohli, and Mohammad Shami’s magical 7 for 54. Iyer’s efforts were equally good, if not better.
Knowing Iyer’s uneasiness with the short ball, Australia will treat him to quite a few of those to unsettle him and get his wicket early. Iyer will again fall back on his strengths and not back out from the challenge. He will look to pull them away from the reach of the fielders.
Iyer believes in overcoming his so-called weakness to short-pitched deliveries by playing them more often and improvising the stroke.
No better platform for him to prove his critics wrong once again and carry on his glorious form than at the World Cup final on Sunday.
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