KKR vs LSG: Shreyas Iyer Will Be Targeted With The Short Ball: Ravi Shastri

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer has a huge role to play with the bat as they take on Lucknow Super Giants in a must-win game n Wednesday, to stay alive in the playoff race. Iyer is KKR’s top scorer for the season. With 351 runs, the right-handed batter has scored only two fifties in 13 games at 29.25.

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has a piece of advice for Shreyas Iyer in a bid to sort out his batting technique. Iyer along with all the other KKR batters have struggled against the short-ball throughout the season. The same was brilliantly exploited by the LSG pacers in their previous game against the Knights.

Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri (Image Credits: Twitter)

Talking to ESPN Cricinfo, Shastri said that the Lucknow bowlers will try to pepper Iyer with short-pitched deliveries and the batter will have a find a way to score against it.

Shreyas Iyer Needs To Give Himself Time To Score Runs: Ravi Shastri

Shreyas Iyer. PHoto- IPL
Shreyas Iyer. Photo- IPL

“Shreyas Iyer has to give himself time to make runs because the opposition will undoubtedly target him with the short ball. But he has to show his readiness against it. It’s okay if he can’t score for one or two overs because he can make up for it later. Shreyas has to go with this mindset because he has a wide array of shots and lots of power. He has the ability to score quickly.”

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Shastri also spoke about how the LSG bowlers can tackle Andre Russell in this key game. Russell has scored 330 runs in 13 matches at 41.25 and taken 17 wickets for the Knights so far this season. He will have an important role to play with both bat and ball in this last game against Lucknow.

Andre Russell (Pic Credit-IPL)
Andre Russell. (Photo: IPL)

“Oppositions might come in with about four gameplans for Russell. However, if it doesn’t work in the first five minutes, he can cause plenty of damage. So, consistency is the key against Russell. For instance, if you want to bowl yorkers in between his legs, keep at it.”

“It’s a different thing if the bowlers lose their lines. If the bowlers don’t attain success with that gameplan, they will try other things. Hence, Russell can capitalize on it after getting his eye in and becomes dangerous” he further added.

Lucknow Super Giants by KKR by 75 runs the first time these two teams met in the season.

Also Read: KKR vs LSG: Match Preview – IPL 2022 Match 66, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants

Anshuman Roy is an author at Cricketaddictor. He has been working with the organization since January 2022 and he has written more than 6000 articles for the website.