[Watch] Spinning all-rounder Joe Root tries to outfox Shreyas Iyer with a short ball during 2nd IND vs ENG TestÂ
Despite Shreyas Iyer's verbal assurances over his short ball credentials, opposition pacers continue to test him with the ploy. The tactic now seems to have been picked up by the spinners as well.
England's off-spinning all-rounder Joe Root surprised the middle-order batter with a random short-pitched delivery in the 38th over of the innings on Day 1 of the second Test in Vishakapatnam on Friday, February 2.
Iyer's biggest threat on paper, Mark Wood, was not part of the playing XI. However, the right-handed batter was still tested with short-pitched deliveries by James Anderson early on in his stint at the crease. He dealt with the test quite well, and the veteran seamer eventually reverted to his traditional outside-the-off-stump line.
England tried to tighten the screws at the start of the second session, but the pair of Jaiswal and Iyer looked assured and composed at the crease. In a bid to do something out of the box, Root bowled a sharp bouncer, banging it halfway down the pitch, in the second delivery of the 38th over.
To the batter's credit, he wasn't outsmarted by the play; Iyer promptly rocked back to pull it away towards square leg for a boundary.
Have a look at the delivery and the stroke right below:
Joe Root has not been as effective in this Test as he was in the series opener in Hyderabad, where he picked up five wickets. The right-arm off-spinner is wicketless after bowling 12 overs and has conceded 53 runs, the most expensive bowler in the contest so far.
Shreyas Iyer was ironically dismissed by a delivery that kept low in the second session
While Iyer dealt well with the brief short-ball spell, his innings came to an end courtesy a Tom Hartley delivery that kept quite low.
Iyer tried to cut the delivery, but the ball made contact with the under edge, and Foakes sealed the dismissal by taking a sharp catch behind the stumps. The middle-order batter scored 27 runs off 59 deliveries, and his innings featured three boundaries.
Following Iyer's departure, debutant Rajat Patidar walked out to the middle for his maiden Test innings. At the time of writing, Team India are placed at 223-3 after 62 overs, with the second session inching towards a close.