Watch: Shreyas Iyer loses his cool when asked about struggle against short-pitched deliveries

Shreyas Iyer lost cool at a journalist in the post-match press conference in Mumbai.

Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer answered several questions with his 82-run knock against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Iyer’s form was in question after a few initial failures in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. England and New Zealand troubled the Indian batter with short-pitched balls in Dharamshala and Lucknow. Shreyas Iyer lost his cool when a reporter asked him about his problem against the short-pitched balls in the World Cup. 

A reporter asked about Shreyas Iyer’s ongoing trouble and his poor show in a few innings. Indian middle-order batter looked unhappy after that question and lost his cool and counter-questioned the journalist about the pull shots he has scored against Sri Lanka in Mumbai. Iyer played a few magnificent pull shots that went boundaries at Wankhede. Iyer has also called it a media ‘Mahaul’ after being dismissed once or twice in short-pitch bowling. 

Here’s how the conversation went between the journalist and Shreyas Iyer 

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 because 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.

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 every 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 majority of the times 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.

I mean, rumours are spread everywhere and you’ll pick on those rumours. I have faith in myself, in my skills, and how much I’ve played. I’m experienced enough to play certain deliveries. And I may get out again and again, but I don’t mind, to be honest, as long as I have faith in myself and my teammates believe in me and support me. So that is a motivating factor for me. I don’t pay attention to anything else.

Watch the video here:

Earleir Bangar also slammed Iyer’s approach

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar has also raised concerns about Shreyas Iyer’s trouble against short-pitched bowling. Bangar slammed Iyer’s approach of playing a pull shot in every single short-pitched delivery. He said, “You can’t play pull shots on every ball. We know Shreyas Iyer has worked a lot on his pull shots lately, but you cannot play them all the time.” Iyer threw his wicket away after a decent start against New Zealand in Dharamshala. 

Shreyas Iyer was at his brutal best at the Wankhede Stadium and played a magnificent knock of 82 runs in 56 balls. Iyer smashed 3 fours and 6 sixes in his innings and entertained the Wankhede crowd to the fullest. Team India defeated Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 302 runs as Sri Lanka were bowled out on just 55 runs total. Mohammed Shami picked up 5 wickets in the middle-order while Mohammed Siraj picked up 3 top-order wickets.

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