Zaheer Khan, a former left-arm seamer for India, thinks Shreyas Iyer has figured out how to tackle the short ball. The Mumbai batter’s future on the big stage was really called into doubt due to the latter’s vulnerability against the rising delivery. At the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6, the Men in Blue defeated England by four wickets thanks to an exciting 59 off 36 balls from Shreyas Iyer.
With nine fours and two sixes, Shreyas Iyer to be having little issue against the short ball. But he has worked on his weakness and improved a lot in his pull and hook shots. His innings in the first ODI proved that Shreyas Iyer can play the short ball to effect.
Shreyas Iyer has been clinical for India in the middle order for Team India right from the 2023 ODI World Cup. He has proved to himself every now and then that he can be a permanent player at No.3 or No.4 for Team India in the future.
Zaheer Khan On Shreyas Iyer’s Comeback, “I Think He Has Figured Out A Way.”
While analyzing Shreyas Iyer’s impressive batting effort in Nagpur, Zaheer opined that the Indian batter seems to have found a method to deal with his short ball woes. During an interaction on Cricbuzz, the former India pacer commented:
“I think he has figured out a way. It’s been a while that Shreyas Iyer walks in and gets peppered with the short ball. There was an obvious concern around that. But, what I liked from today’s innings – he was not giving himself too much room to play those short deliveries. He was actually getting in decent positions to take the short-pitched balls on,”
Zaheer added that Shreyas Iyer’s success against the rising delivery in Nagpur will boost his confidence for the upcoming challenges. He elaborated:
“It has worked today, so this innings is definitely going to give him confidence. Also, it’s a message which is sent to the bowlers that if you are going to come at me, I can come at you back. That is something important, which will change the mindset of bowlers looking at him,”
For a big knock, Shreyas Iyer was decked out in extravagant clothing. But when he was unable to perform a sweep, England’s left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell removed him.
India was in early difficulties as openers Rohit Sharma (2) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) were dismissed cheaply, but they easily won in a chase of 249. But Shreyas entered the game and attacked the bowlers from England. Zaheer gave Cricbuzz his thoughts on the importance of the batter’s counterattack:
“The counter-attack was just a brilliant innings to watch. At that stage in the game, when the ball is new, hard and you have already lost two wickets, for someone to walk in with such confidence and take the attack to the opposition, was something that worked really well. It really set the tone for the run chase.”
After Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 59, Shubman Gill (87 off 96) and Axar Patel (52 off 47) added 108 runs for the fourth wicket to put India firmly in command.