Shreyas Iyer's short-ball struggles have been well-documented. Exposed in the IPL earlier, England coach Brendon McCullum signalled his players to use the short ball ploy against Iyer when the India batted walked out to bat in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test. And the trick worked as Iyer mistimed a pull to James Anderson at mid-wicket. Iyer scored 19 off 26 balls but looked unsettled as the England pacers peppered him with a barrage of bouncers from the onset. After surviving a few times, Iyer finally caved and gave his wicket away to Matthew Potts.
Iyer's mistakes have been highlighted far too many times, but despite his shortcomings, former BCCI selector Jatin Paranjpe believes the India batter is very much international cricket material. In fact, he feels that had Iyer managed to stay at the crease a little longer, things for him and the Indian team could have been different.
"I think there are several approaches to this. I don't have a doubt in my mind that Shreyas Iyer has the talent. More importantly, I think he has the gravitas for international cricket. I feel it is a question of learning. From what I saw of him, it's that one ball that got him which he played badly. You could see it in his eyes that he knew he had to bat half a session more. I was thinking to myself the ball before he got out that if Shreyas bats 30-35 minutes here, we are home. The next ball he got out. It is something he will learn through direct experience," Paranjpe told veteran sports journalist Jamie Alter on his Glance chat show, The Alternate View.
Having said that, the former India batter did point out that it is Iyer himself who needs to get himself out of the rut. Paranjpe mentioned that having discussions with coach Rahul Dravid can only help so much and that although batting in a Test match in England is not the brightest prospect, the batter needs to make efforts before it gets too late.
{{/usCountry}}Having said that, the former India batter did point out that it is Iyer himself who needs to get himself out of the rut. Paranjpe mentioned that having discussions with coach Rahul Dravid can only help so much and that although batting in a Test match in England is not the brightest prospect, the batter needs to make efforts before it gets too late.
{{/usCountry}}"Rahul Dravid having two cups of coffee with you isn't going to teach you how to do it. You've got to go out there and grind it out. I just hope that Shreyas keeps getting chances. Scoring runs in England against this bowling attack is not an easy proposition, but I think somewhere he's got to find that right balance between waiting it out and playing to his areas of strength. And that can only come with more air miles," Paranjpe said.