"Want to see Shreyas Iyer fight a bit harder against short balls" - Simon Doull
Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull wants Indian batter Shreyas Iyer to overcome his struggles against the short-ball after India's seven-wicket loss against New Zealand during their first ODI match at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday (November 25).
Iyer scored 80 runs in 76 balls, hammering four boundaries and four sixes, before getting caught in the final over of the Indian innings as the team crossed the 300-run mark.
One of Iyer's shortcomings in his batting technique is his inability to counter short deliveries, which has become the key strategy for the opposition pace bowlers. Iyer had to face Lockie Ferguson in a test early in his inning.
In response to Ferguson's barrage of short balls, Iyer played a raving uppercut over Tom Latham's head for a six.
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Speaking on how challenging it's been for the Indian batter to play short deliveries, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull told Cricbuzz:
"Look, I was really disappointed with the third ball. It's not the Shreyas Iyer I want to see. I want to see him fight through those couple of moments but it is tough, I get it. It's hard. And when you have got the reputation of not playing the short balls well, it is not easy. It's a horrible place to be in."
He further added:
"But I want to see him fight a bit harder for that. But then he just finds a way to score runs and he scores them all around there. He is particularly aggressive against spin and tries to be. But I just like him when he shows a bit more composure. It was a good innings tonight. I thought it was a very good innings after a really rough start."
"I thought it was a decent debut" - Simon Doull on Umran Malik
The young pace bowling pair of Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh made their ODI debuts for India in the first match.
Although Umran was a bit expensive, as he leaked 66 runs from his 10 overs, he got the wickets of Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell.
Analyzing the Jammu & Kashmir pace sensation's performance in his first ODI appearance, Doull said:
"I thought it was a decent debut. You are asking him to bowl quick, it was controlled early on which was very good. He wasn't the wayward which we saw at times through the IPL. So for me it was a really good debut on a tough pitch, a very good batting pitch."
New Zealand and India will play the second ODI match at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday (November 27).