Indore: When Shreyas Iyer walked in to bat on Day Three of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 final against Gujarat here at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, Mumbai’s score read 54 for 1. Opener Akhil Herwadkar had just been dismissed for 16 after a quickfire start. Even before he could get his eyes set, Prithvi Shaw too was sent back to the pavilion after his entertaining knock of 44, which came off just 35 balls and constituted of 8 fours. At this point, Mumbai were still 34 runs behind Gujarat’s first-innings lead of 100 and were in a spot of bother. But by the time Iyer departed, Mumbai were ahead by 93 runs, in a relatively much better position.
In fact, with a lead of 108 and 7 wickets in hand, it would not be unfair to say they are ahead in the match. The credit of this turnaround goes to Iyer’s 82 as well as his potentially match-turning partnership of 127 runs with Suryakumar Yadav. Even as the 22-year-old batsman missed out on a well-deserved hundred, which incidentally could have been his second consecutive in Ranji Trophy finals, he seemed to be a content man at the end of the day. “Me and Surya had to put on a partnership, and we successfully did it. Let’s see what happens,” said Iyer after the end of day’s play, commenting on the balance of the match.
“We got a good start by the openers, a 50-run start. Then we collapsed, we lost two wickets. Me and Surya had to carry on the innings. We decided we’ve got a big day, so let’s play through the session, allow the bowlers to get tired and take over after that,” he added.
Iyer smacked 9 fours and 2 sixes during his knock but it was not particularly a knock so typical of him. For a player who loves to play his shots, it was one of those innings where he had to curb his natural instincts a lot. As the Gujarat bowlers sent down overs after overs targeting well outside the off-stump, Iyer left a fair number of deliveries alone. Naturally, it was not easy for him.
“It was really frustrating. At one time, I was getting really bored leaving the ball because I like to play strokes a lot. I could see the ball properly still, but I had to play according to the situation. The team demands of staying at the crease. When the spinner came on, I took charge and decided to carry on,” he said.
Iyer, who was disappointed the way he got out in the first innings, was not quite pleased either with his second innings dismissal. “I was really disappointed. The scorecard could have looked different; we would have been 230 for 2 with me getting my century had I not played that shot. But it’s part and parcel of the game. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for us as a team, hopefully we can put some good runs on the board and put them to bat and see what happens,” he said.
Commenting on the nature of the wicket, the Mumbai No. 3 said since the opposition were not bowling on the stumps, it was difficult to asses how the wicket is playing. “They were just bowling outside off. We’ll know exactly how it is playing when we bowl,” said Iyer.
The star batsman also had some kind words for the rising star of the team — Prithvi Shaw. “It’s really nice for the team, suddenly we get a good start which we were not getting in the previous matches. Then this boy coming in, young and fearless. It was amazing to watch. The shot he played wasn’t that good, but you can forgive him. He’s that kind of a player,” he said when being asked about the pleasant change that Prithvi’s inclusion has brought into the squad.
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Coming back to his own form, Iyer rated his performance this season as average. “I’m not that disappointed because I’ve got 700 odd. It’s an average performance. I wasn’t able to convert my 40s and 30s, if I did that I would have got 1000 runs. It’s not a problem, I just have to forget about my previous performances, work hard and come back strong.”
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