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After bringing up just one fifty in the first six matches of the ODI World Cup 2023, the questions were raised about Shreyas Iyer’s place in the Indian playing XI. But, the 28-year-old played a statement-making innings for India against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, to help them post a massive total of 357/8 on the board while scoring 82 runs off just 56 balls.
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But, at the post-match press conference, after India had disposed off the challenge of Sri Lanka by 302 runs, Shreyas Iyer was asked a question about the short ball, which has challenged him throughout his international career. The journalist was quoted as saying, “Short ball has been a problem for you,” which led to the Indian middle order batter questioning him back and said, “When you say it’s a problem for me, what do you mean?”
When the journalist tried to clarify himself by saying, “Not a problem exactly, but it’s troubled you,” Shreyas Iyer was far from pleased about what he had heard. The Mumbai-born cricketer said, “Troubled me?,” before he divulged what was actually going on, in his own mind about the short ball.
Watch the video of Shreyas Iyer taking on the journalist about the short ball talk here:
“Have you seen how many pull shots I’ve scored, especially which has gone for four? So, you know, if you’re trying to hit a ball, you’re bound to get out anyway, irrespective of if it’s a short ball, if it’s overpitched. If I get bowled two or three times, you all would say, ‘he can’t play an inswinging ball, he can’t play a cut if the ball is seaming’,” he remarked.
Shreyas Iyer criticised the press for making something out of nothing, in regards to the short ball talk around him. He was quoted as saying, “So, see, we as players, we are bound to get out on any sort of deliveries. You guys have created that mahaul (atmosphere) outside that ‘he can’t play a short ball’, and I feel that people are picking that up every now and then and it plays on your (the press) mind regularly, and you keep working on that.”
The 28-year-old shared his experiences of playing cricket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, to clarify that there is no problem in his mind about facing up to the short ball. He said, “Coming from Mumbai, especially from Wankhede where the bounce is pretty much even, and it bounces way more than any other pitches. I’ve played the majority of my games here, so I know how to tackle it.”
"It’s just that when I go to hit some shots you are bound to get out and 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,” he concluded.
