I Fell Very Overwhelmed And Take It As A Challenge: Shreyas Iyer On Australia's Short-Ball Ploy Against Him

Shreyas Iyer’s limitations against short-pitch bowling have been exploited to the hilt in the first two ODIs by the Australian pace-attack. In both the games, the Indian No.4 has come into bat with fast bowlers bowling with a short-leg and leg-slip; a clear ploy to test him against the rising delivery.

And, in both the matches, Iyer has been dismissed via that game plan. While in the first ODI, he was dismissed by a fast bumper, one that left him in two minds- to leave it or go for the pull- paving way for an embarrassing dismissal, in the second match, Shreyas Iyer was knocked over by a slow bouncer.

But inspite of the clear ploy, Shreyas Iyer reckons it falls in his game plan of playing attacking strokes. Iyer’s plan was simple in the last game. Anything that was pitched short, he got inside the line of the delivery to carve it to the off-side. Iyer even went on to say that he feels overwhelmed by the fact that the Australians are planning to get him out.

“I definitely know that they’ve planned against me, so I’m really happy. At least they’re coming up with a plan against me to get me out. I feel very overwhelmed and take it as a challenge because, you see, I thrive under pressure. And also, it really motivates to go against them. They set attacking fields which really helps me to score runs, so I take advantage of that and I see to it that I make the best use of it.” Shreyas Iyer told reporters as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“I knew the short ball was going to come so I was in two minds,” Iyer said of that dismissal. “I was thinking of pulling and at the same time I have the upper cut. I got stuck in between two shots and I couldn’t play the shot. So maybe that’s the reason I got stuck in one place; and the ball came and hit the middle of the bat even that time,” he added.

“In the second match, I was just like – look at the ball and react. It’s very easy to do that, rather than think what the bowler is bowling. You can actually predict, once you are set, what the bowler is going to bowl, so I usually give myself time at the start and that’s what I applied in the second match and it really worked out well.” Shreyas Iyer explained.

‘It’s just the mindset which you need to adjust’-  Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has impinged himself as the reliable No.4 batsman in One-day International cricket ever since he made a return to the side post the 2019 World Cup.

He has notched up a 50+ score in every second ODI in his past 20 innings and had come into this series on the back of a hugely successful New Zealand tour, where he scored his maiden ODI ton.

And, for him, it is all about adjusting his mindset to address the current adversity rather than tinkering too much with his technique.

“I feel that it’s just the mindset which you need to adjust. [I’ve] been playing for so many years… obviously it’s my first time playing in Australia and on these wickets. We all know that the wickets are bouncy and the bowlers are only going to bowl to you in the body area and the short balls are going to come to you,” he added.

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