Shreyas: Sprinter, finisher, stayer
Young Mumbai batsman makes rapid strides at India’s key No. 4 slot as the World T20 looms
MUMBAI:Shreyas Iyer is showing what India missed at the 2019 World Cup. In the absence of a settled middle-order, New Zealand exposed India’s vulnerability, running through their batting line-up in handing the semi-final defeat. The roles are reversed as India are dominating the Kiwis in their first meeting since then, though in a different format, and Iyer is making a difference at No. 4.
In the first T20 game at Auckland, he enhanced his reputation as a finisher with a 29-ball 58, an unbeaten 62-run partnership off 34 balls with Manish Pandey handing India the lead in the fivegame series. The 25-year-old backed that performance with a 33-ball 44 in the second T20I for another victory.
His coach Pravin Amre, the former India batsman, though picks the innings Iyer played before leaving for New Zealand, in the final one-dayer against Australia, as an example of his improvement.
“As a player you want to prove you belong at that level. In the third one-dayer at Bengaluru, he was up against probably the best attack in the world and that innings has given him a lot of confidence which he has carried into the New Zealand series,” Amre said, referring to Iyer’s unbeaten 35-ball 44. He was under pressure after scores of four and seven in the first two ODIs.
Having made his India debut in 2017-18, Iyer got runs consistently. He was among those tried for the middle-order slot ahead of last year’s World Cup, but was dropped. He averaged 40 plus at that point but most of his runs had come against Sri Lanka and West Indies. To prove one’s mettle, it is performing against the likes of Australia and New Zealand that count.
In that Australia game, skipper Virat Kohli saw the transformation from the other end. After the series-clinching win, he praised Iyer for taking on the short-pitched bowling of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
“When we played that over out (eight runs off leggie Adam Zampa in the 44th over), I told him ‘now you’ve earned the right to go really hard in this over (33 was needed from six overs) and really express yourself. If they bowl short take it on, because once you execute that in the game, you get over that mental block, if any’. I don’t think he’s going to have any issues anymore because he really went after their best bowlers and got results. It took the pressure off me as well, not having to take risks and the other guy striking at 140-145,” said Kohli. Iyer’s final strike-rate was a shade over 125.
In the build-up to the T20 World Cup in October, Kohli has spoken about finalising spots early, to avoid the mistake made ahead of the ODI World Cup by experimenting too much with the middle-order. Iyer is being groomed for the crucial No. 4 spot.
“For No. 4, he understands his game well, and gives himself time to settle down even in T20s,” Amre said. “There are few batsmen who can change the game with one big over; Iyer has that ability. He knows he can take the game deep and target bowlers in the end when they are as much under pressure as the batsmen.”
Iyer’s big-hitting ability is fairly well-documented in IPL. And in the second ODI against West Indies in December, he hit 31 runs in one over.
In a recent interview to legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal for the BCCI website, Iyer said he is learning from chase masters, Kohli and Rohit Sharma. “My aim is to always finish games whatever time I spend on the pitch. We have players like Virat Bhai, Rohit Bhai who finish games, and staying with them helps you learn. It feels good to finish the match,” he said.
Teammate KL Rahul believes captaining an IPL team—Delhi Capitals—has helped Iyer mature.
“The responsibility of being an IPL captain, he has understood how to finish games. He showed that responsibility in the last ODI, and here too. Those are great signs for us,” he said after the first T20I in Auckland.
Iyer is also fast buying into the team culture of fitness and sharp fielding. Before joining the India team for the Sri Lanka T20 series early in January, he was at the Mumbai Ranji nets. His teammates were at the batting nets while Iyer was putting in a series of long sprints. Asked how many repetitions he had done, the batsman said: “I did 23 sprints.”
Amre explains: “His main focus is speed work. That is why he is fast in the outfield. The Hetmyer run out from the deep was an example.” Windies batsman Shimron Hetmyer had hit a match-winning 139 in the previous game. At Visakhapatnam, he played a cut, but Iyer raced to the fence from point, made a tumbling stop, recovered instantly and threw to Ravindra Jadeja, catching the batsman short.
Ahead of Wednesday’s third T20 game in Hamilton, batting coach Vikram Rathour said the confidence Iyer has in his ability helps him bat aggressively.
“Apart from having those (batting) skills, the mindset is amazing. He believes he is a big player, and he is without doubt. He believes he is a match-winner and is here to stay. That mindset helps him, that is the biggest advantage he has.”
Amre saw that in Iyer as a Mumbai junior player and in the India U-19 batch of 2014. “I have known him since he was a kid; he was always confident, never baulked against a challenge. It is critical for any top batsman.”