Shreyas Iyer, who was struggling for form in the last few matches, roared back in the India vs. Sri Lanka match of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Mumbai on November 2nd. India defeated the Islanders by a massive margin of 302 runs and qualified for the semi-finals with their 7th straight win.
India was asked to bat first by Sri Lanka and thanks to Shubman Gill (92), Virat Kohli (88), and Shreyas Iyer (82), posted 357/8 in 50 overs. Then the Indian bowlers, particularly Mohammad Shami (5/18) and Mohammed Siraj (3/16) routed Sri Lanka for just 55 runs.
This match was important for Shreyas Iyer, who had a few lukewarm outings since scoring 53* against Pakistan. He had scores of 19, 33, and 4 and there were talks of him getting dropped when Hardik Pandya returned.
Other focus was on his mode of dismissals as he was out caught off a short ball against New Zealand and was particularly fidgety against anything pitched at the halfway mark on the surface. But his 82 in 56 balls with 6 sixes and 3 fours quashed those calls.
Still, Iyer had to face some 'short ball' questions in the presser and was in no mood to play defensive and decided to issue a sharp retort to the reporter.
Here is how the conversation went:
Reporter: “I wanted to ask, short ball has been a problem for you since the beginning of this World Cup and today we saw some great pull shots. How much are you prepared for the next match against South Africa we know how good they are with the short balls.”
Shreyas Iyer: “When you say it's a problem for me what do you mean?”
Reporter: “Not a problem, problem exactly but it has troubled you.”
Shreyas Iyer: “Troubled me? Have you seen how many pull shots I've scored? Especially which has gone for four.”
He further added: “If you're trying to hit a ball, you're bound to get out anyway. Irrespective it's a short ball, it's an over pitch. If I get bowled two or three times, you all would say that, OK, he can't play an in-swinging ball. He can't play a cut if a ball is seeming.
So, see, we, as players are bound to get out on any sort of deliveries. You guys have created that environment outside that he can't play a short ball. And I feel that people are picking that up now and then and it plays on your mind regularly and you keep working on that.”
“Coming from Mumbai, especially from Wankhede, where the bounce is pretty much even and it bounces way more than any other pitches. So, I've played 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 asserted.
Here is the video:
He admitted that it was very difficult for him to move after the back injury he suffered earlier this year. He sat out for more than six months, having undergone surgery to overcome the problem," Iyer seemed completely dismissive.
"Yes, it was a difficult ride to come out of an injury, especially in terms of fielding. I wasn't able to move as I used to before. But the trainers and the physios, they worked pretty hard on me, especially in terms of recovering after the games, because 50 overs, it takes a lot of toll on your body," he said.
Iyer said he was not able to capitalize on the starts he got in some of the matches in the World Cup but wanted to bat with a more aggressive intent against Sri Lanka.
"It was playing on my mind right from the start because I was getting tremendous starts in the first few games. I wasn't just able to capitalize on what I was getting to. I just told myself that if it's there in my area, I'm just going to go take the bull by the horns. And yeah, fortunately, it worked for me and I hope that it keeps on working for me in the future as well because the team is in a great space at the moment,” he added.
Iyer will be next in action when India plays South Africa in Kolkata on November 5.
(PTI inputs)
