"I saw Shreyas Iyer leaving the ball after a long time" - Mohammad Kaif says Iyer didn't look troubled by the short ball
Mohammad Kaif has lauded Shreyas Iyer for effectively countering the bouncers more often than not in the first ODI between India and Bangladesh in Mirpur on Sunday, December 4.
Iyer scored 24 runs off 39 balls as the Men in Blue were bowled out for 186 after being asked to bat first. The hosts chased down the target with just one wicket and four overs to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
During a post-match discussion on Sony Sports, Kaif was asked about Iyer falling prey to the short ball once again, to which he responded:
"We have seen many times that if you bowl a bouncer to Shreyas Iyer, his next shot is to step aside and hit over point, exposes his wickets. I saw Shreyas Iyer leaving the ball after a long time. He watched the balls till the last and left them or played with soft hands."
Kaif highlighted that the Mumbai batter was not dismissed by a steepling bouncer in Sunday's game, explaining:
"The ball off which he was dismissed did not climb that much. The ball was just above the waist when he met the ball, it was not a bouncer. If it had come slightly higher, he might have connected it or left it."
TAKE: It wasn't the first and only short ball Shreyas Iyer faced.
#BANvIND | #ShreyasIyer
Iyer tried to pull a short ball outside the off stump from Ebadot Hossain. He only managed to get a top edge for Mushfiqur Rahim to take a simple catch behind the wickets.
"He didn't look out of control" - Mohammad Kaif on Shreyas Iyer's knock
Kaif was pleased with some of the shots Iyer played during Sunday's knock, elaborating:
"I liked his knock today because he didn't look out of control. He played the drive straight down the ground, struck a punched four through point as well. So overall it was balanced batting, played on merit, he got bouncers after bouncers, but he didn't look troubled by the short ball."
The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by observing that Iyer should follow a similar approach against the short ball going forward. He said:
"The short ball is his weakness, people will generally try that against him. His career pitch map will be like that only. He should progress like this. He might have gotten out but he should come to the next match with the same planning and bat like this."
Shreyas Iyer becomes the 2nd leading run-scorer for India in ODI in 2022.
Ajay Jadeja was also appreciative of Iyer's handling of the short ball for the majority of his innings. The former Indian skipper pointed out that even KL Rahul was dismissed by a bouncer in Sunday's game.