England vs India, Edgbaston: India batter Shreyas Iyer found himself at the receiving end on Twitter as the 27-year-old once again succumbed to the short ball in the second innings of the fifth Test between England and India played at Edgbaston. Iyer has had his issues with the short ball and his weakness in playing anything above his waist is an open secret in the world of cricket.
Matty Potts was the beneficiary here as James Anderson took a simple catch at mid-wicket. The trap was set by England captain Ben Stokes and Iyer obliged by going for the pull shot only to find the man stationed there, especially for that kind of a shot.
As soon as Iyer was dismissed, Twitter was abuzz comparing him with the likes of former India captain Sourav Ganguly and Suresh Raina, who were not particularly great players of the short ball.
Iyer has played five Test matches so far in his short career and has scored 422 runs at an average of 46.89. Iyer’s scored a Test century on debut against New Zealand at Green Park, Kanpur last year. The comparison to Ganguly is a tad unfair considering the number of runs he has scored in international cricket. Raina, too was an incredible limited-overs player and possibly the best all-round fielder India had ever produced.
Comparing both with Iyer is a bit immature, who is just five Test matches old in international cricket. As Sunny Gavaskar keeps saying, ‘Nobody likes the short pitch stuff.’ Iyer will have to work hard at his game and the results will come.