Home
India's middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has not been most comfortable against short deliveries. Opposition captains try to target Iyer with short balls often. On Day 1 of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, right-arm off-spinner Joe Root tried to catch Iyer off-guard by bowling a short ball.
In the 38th over, Iyer was batting on 10 off 23 deliveries. Root came round the wicket to Iyer and bowled a half-tracker. It could not generate enough bounce as it ended under the hips. Iyer was quick to pick the length went on the back foot and hit it towards square leg for a boundary.
Earlier, Iyer was tested by James Anderson with a short ball as well. He could not get it away. He was in no position to play the short and ended up underedging it. Iyer scored 22 runs from 49 balls in the second session.
Early in the third session, Iyer fell to left-arm spinner Tom Hartley. On the short ball outside off, he tried to play a cut shot. But there wasn't enough bounce and he underedged it to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. He departed after scoring 27 runs from 59 deliveries. Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal shared a 90-run partnership for the third wicket.
The Mumbai-born batter has not scored a half-century in the red-ball format since December 2022. In the last 11 innings, his highest score in the format is 35 which came against England in the previous Test in Hyderabad. His average in the last 11 innings is just 15.8 which has led to questions over his spot in the middle order.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Sarfaraz Khan is waiting for his turn after earning his maiden Test call-up on the back of an exceptional run in domestic cricket. Sarfaraz scored a match-winning 161 for India A against England Lions last month.
Iyer, who was not a part of India’s home T20I series against Afghanistan played a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai. He contributed with a run-a-ball against Andhra Pradesh before joining Team India for the five-Test series against Ben Stokes’ England.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Watch: Shoaib Bashir makes Rohit Sharma his maiden wicket during India vs England 2nd Test
James Anderson breaks Lala Amarnath's 71-year-old in the second Test against India
