India’s middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer copied his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate Sunil Narine’s unique bowling action on Day 1 of the Buchi Bachu Tournament clash between Mumbai and TNCA XI. Iyer came on to bowl in the last session of Day 1’s play as wicketkeeper-batter Boopathi Vaishna Kumar and Sonu Yadav looked settled in the middle.
Iyer bowled just one over on Day 1 and conceded seven runs. He even had a fun moment with the umpire as he appealed for a catch when it was a bump shot from Sonu. The video of Iyer imitating Narine went viral on social media.
Iyer’s bowling career
The Mumbai bowler can contribute with part-time spin. He doesn't just bowl off-spin but legbreak googly as well. The 29-year-old has a total of four wickets from 25 innings in First-Class cricket. He has bowled on international stage across formats. In Tests, he has bowled just one over. In T20Is, he bowled just two balls whereas in ODIs he has bowled more than six overs. He is yet to take a wicket in international cricket.
Meanwhile, India head coach Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that he wants batters to contribute with the ball too. In the T20I series, Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh bowled for the first time in international cricket and helped the side beat Sri Lanka after taking the game into super over.
Iyer’s ODI form
Iyer had a forgettable ODI series. He did not get to bat at his usual position and succumbed under pressure. He registered scores of 23, 7 and 8 in respective ODIs and India lost the series.
Iyer’s return to Tests
He is expected to return to Test cricket in the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh starting September 19. Earlier this year, he suffered from an injury and pulled out of a few Tests in the Test series against England at home. However, he faces stiff competition from the likes of Sarfaraz Khan who made an impact in his absence.
He was also dropped from India’s list of centrally contracted players alongside Ishan Kishan for not playing a few Ranji Trophy matches. But he returned to play a couple of games for Mumbai as they won the trophy under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane.
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