Shreyas Iyer's awful run continues as Umesh Yadav exposes short-ball weakness

Things are not right for the India batter Shreyas Iyer. His torrid run in red-ball cricket continued as he bagged yet another failure in the Ranji Trophy Final 2023-24. The summit clash is taking place between Mumbai and Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. 

With the things going around Shreyas Iyer, it was expected that he would let his bat talk and reply to everything in style. But things got even more worse for him and he has yet again come under scanner. The middle order couldn’t get going in the final of the Ranji Trophy as his stay at the crease lasted just 15 balls. 

Shreyas Iyer came to bat in the first session of the Day 1 but his stay at the crease was made uncomfortable by veteran pacer Umesh Yadav. The fast bowler threatened the batter with a barrage of short balls before removing him to take his first wicket of the day. 

During the 28th over of the Mumbai innings, Umesh Yadav, from the first ball, executed his short ball ploy. Shreyas Iyer left the first two balls that shaped and then defended the next two balls, which were targeted at the stumps. This created doubt in the minds of the batter. 

During the fifth ball of the over, Umesh Yadav got the ball to shape away and Shreyas Iyer looked clueless. He had his feet stuck in on man’s land and guided the ball straight to Karun Nair, who was stationed at slip. The India batter managed just 7 runs off 15 balls and his wicket left Mumbai four down for just 99 runs. 

Shreyas Iyer struggled to get going in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy game as well. He got out for just 3 runs off 8 balls as Sandeep Warrier rattled his stumps. The batter also didn’t look comfortable during his stay at all as the short ball even troubled him. 

Overall in two Ranji games, Shreyas Iyer managed just 10 runs. This surely wouldn’t help him to make his comeback in the Indian team. The batter was part of the first two Tests against England before he got dropped. But with him bagging failures in FC cricket, things won’t be easy for him going ahead. 

Rahul Dravid opens up about Shreyas Iyer’s contract termination 

After Shreyas Iyer was dropped from the Indian team from the England series, BCCI told the batter to take part in the Ranji Trophy but he denied it, citing back spasm. The NCA however, reported that Mumbai batter has no injury issues and BCCI also found him attending the pre-season camp for KKR ahead of the IPL. 

This irked BCCI as they didn’t give him the National contract for the upcoming season. This came as a surprise because ahead of the England series, he was the backbone of the Indian middle order in all three formats. 

Rahul Dravid was asked about the contract termination of Shreyas Iyer, to which he stated that doors are not closed for anyone. He cited that batters need to perform and force selectors to pick him. Speaking to reporters, he stated: 

“I don’t decide contracts or discuss that. I don’t even know what the criteria is. Both are in the mix and hope they play cricket, stay fit and force the selectors to pick them. No one is out of contention, players without contracts have also played.” 

The upcoming IPL 2024 will be a great opportunity for Shreyas Iyer to showcase his prowess. He will be captaining Kolkata Knight Riders in the league.