Shreyas Iyer, the middle-order batter of the Indian side, has opened up on the outside chatters on his weakness in international games by the general public and the media. Most feel that the right-handed batter doesn’t find the short ball comfortable to face and gets out quite regularly in the same fashion.
Shreyas Iyer has been picked for the three ODIs against England at home, starting from February 06 in Nagpur, before which he would be playing for Mumbai in their sixth round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 at the BKC ground against Jammu and Kashmir, in the presence of the captain Rohit Sharma and national teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal.
He has also been picked for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to begin on February 19, while India will face Bangladesh in their campaign opener on the following day. The middle order of the side has been boosted by three experienced batters, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Iyer, all of whom contributed with the bat in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home.
Shreyas Iyer is not fused on public remarks of short ball weakness
Shreyas Iyer was the seventh leading run-getter of the competition with 530 runs in 11 innings at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of 113.24, shouldering on two centuries and three half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 128 runs.
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The 30-year-old has been in impressive touch in the 50-iver format, thanks to his 325 runs in five innings at an average of 325 because of one dismissal and a strike rate of 131.57, thanks to two centuries with the best score of unbeaten 137 runs. The Mumbai-born has collected 2421 runs for India in 57 ODI innings at an average of 47.47 and a strike rate of 101.21, depending on five centuries and 18 half-centuries.
However, the notes of his struggle against the short ball irritate him the most, especially because it comes from the public who hasn’t faced 150km per hour delivery but still advises to play in a particular way.
“It’s irritating, especially when it comes from people who haven’t faced 150 km per hour delivery, advising you to play in a particular way. But I would say it is their opinion. They have all the right to talk, but they can talk between themselves, not to the player directly.” Shreyas Iyer told during Indian Express’ Ide Exchange.
When it comes to his favorite knock, the veteran has rated the 82 runs against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium as his favorite from the marquee event. He felt that knock came under pressure when the headlines were of dropping him from the squad, given he wasn’t providing much for the team.
“Even though I had scored a 50 against Pakistan, there was some talk which put me in a helter-skelter situation. That kind of (talk) boosted my instincts from within. I wanted to just give my 110 percent. And in that game, I decided that I would just back my instincts and go full throttle. No looking back.” Shreyas Iyer explained.
Iyer also highlighted how he has adopted the new trigger movements at different times.
“It is important that you adapt according to the situation. You don’t have the same wickets all the time. There is variable bounce on certain wickets. On a certain track, you need to chop and change a little bit with your stance.” Shreyas Iyer added.
The biggest question for India will be around Iyer, Rahul, and Pant for the fourth and fifth positions, as one of the batters would be needed to miss out on the playing eleven if they want to have six bowling options.
“That, if the wicket is like this, I’m going to play in a certain way. I have a set mindset, like, okay, this is how I’m going to play on that particular wicket. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But I went out there with a plan. You might not execute it every time.” Shreyas Iyer concluded.