Towards the end of Shreyas Iyer’s hit, which lasted over two hours and was spread across multiple sessions, India coach Rahul Dravid shadowed a perfect pull shot. The hands went back enough to replicate the ideal swing and the wrists then came into play to keep the ball down. Something which the former India captain had done during his playing days on countless occasions and something which Iyer didn’t even attempt during his marathon session facing short stuff.
Unlike the coach, Iyer never looked to keep the ball down and kept pulling deliveries in the air. Not often did he explore going behind square and was happy to give it a whack predominantly off the front-foot. Ball after ball, the side-armers, net bowlers, coach Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour would fire in short deliveries and the right-hander would continue hitting them in the air, mostly towards between the square-leg and mid-wicket region.
Everyone has left but Shreyas Iyer is still batting. Continues to face lot of short deliveries… Rahul Dravid keeping a close eye and sending some throw downs his ways too— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) October 31, 2023
Most of those deliveries were around chest height and allowed the 28-year-old to get into good positions even while keeping most of the weight on the front-foot. The rising deliveries, especially the ones at awkward height, were either let go or were mostly play and misses. The plan was clear – keep hitting them in the air and get better at doing that. In between the hundreds of short deliveries, there were some tossed up by the spinners and were launched into the stands in typical Iyer no-look fashion. Even during the marathon hit, the most comfortable he looked was while going big against the spinners.
A similar story has unfolded in the ongoing World Cup too. Iyer hasn’t set the stage on fire yet and has only one half-century, vs Pakistan, in six innings. The last two innings vs England and New Zealand saw India’s No.4 succumbing to short-balls and it is now clearly playing on his mind. More frustrating being the manner in which he is getting out to short deliveries.
On both occasions, it looked like he was fighting an ego battle with short deliveries and just went after them to prove a point. Both times off the front foot and in no control whatsoever.
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Yes, teams have figured out Iyer’s weakness against the rising ball but it’s time the right-hander finds a way around that, if not for that. A safety-first approach wouldn’t be a bad idea before he masters the art of silencing short music. Everyone’s aware of the quality and intent he brings to the table at No.4 position but this battle, vs short balls, within a battle is neither helping Iyer nor Team India at the moment.
The entire coaching staff was in and around Iyer’s net and the batter had numerous discussions with coach Dravid. Even R Ashwin, who was batting in the adjacent net, shared his wisdom when he was done with his long hit. Iyer took breaks, kept changing nets but was obsessed with facing short deliveries today. For his last session, he mixed things up a bit and had a chest guard on and faced a lot of deliveries from around the stumps. Different angles but the approach remained the same – keep pulling and keep pulling them in the air in the region he had been doing all day.
The side-armers would mix up lengths in between and that is where Iyer was caught napping. With his feet waiting for short deliveries, he would neither go forward nor go back and would just get the bat down in time.
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It’s not a secret plan anymore and every opposition – international arena or IPL or domestic – is aware about Iyer’s problems. More short music is going to come his way in the game against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 2 and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top then.
Only seven players turn up for “optional training"
It was only 50% attendance for India’s optional training session in Mumbai today. Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the ones who attended while the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were the absentees.
Surprise surprise! NO Shubman Gill yet for India’s optional training session. Shreyas Iyer, SKY and Ishan Kishan batting. R Ashwin, plenty of net bowlers and throwdown specialists— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) October 31, 2023
Whoever batted, from Kishan to Ashwin, had a lot of intent in their approach. Plenty of deliveries were deposited way back into the stands and the media personnel and ground staff was mostly on ducking duties as ball sailed over the ropes on numerous occasions. Kishan and Jadeja in particular were the most aggressive with their approach and the two southpaws did end up making good and long connections.
After bowling a long spell, there was no shortage of experimentation when Ashwin came on to bat. The right-hander tried everything – from the scoops to pick up off the pads to gentle nudges past third man to scoops over third man – and made it a very entertaining session to watch. There were some big hits along the way but the highlight was his experimentation with shots behind the keeper.
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