After IND vs SL, Shreyas Iyer loses cool at 'the'short ball' query; video goes viral.
The criticism surrounding Iyer's performance has largely been based on his weakness against the short ball. He has often fallen for this type of delivery against fast bowlers. It isn't something new about Iyer. The talk has remained similar for over a year now.
On Thursday, following his fiery knock, Iyer was asked about the same and his preparation for the next game against South Africa. The right-handed batter seemed unimpressed by the query in the post-match conference and questioned the reporter, saying, “When you say it’s a problem for me, what do you mean?"
This reporter quickly clarified by saying that it was “not a problem exactly, but it’s troubled you,” but Iyer was still disappointed as he rather believed that the idea of him being weak against the short ball is a perception created by the media.
Iyer said, “Troubled me? Have you seen how many pull shots I’ve scored, especially those that have gone for four? If you’re trying to hit a ball, you’re bound to get out anyway, irrespective of whether it’s a short ball or if it’s overpitched. If I get bowled two or three times, you all would say, ‘He can’t play an inswinging ball; he can’t play a cut if the ball is seaming’.
Watch the video here.
He further said, "We, as players, are bound to get out on any sort of delivery."You guys have created that Mahal outside that ‘he can’t play a short ball’, and I feel that people are picking that up every now and then, and it plays on your [the media’s] mind regularly, and you keep working on that.”
The 28-year-old further explained, saying that playing at his home ground, which is the Wankhede Stadium, has helped him develop his game against short deliveries.
He said, “Coming from Mumbai, especially from Wankhede, where the bounce is pretty much even, here it bounces way more than any other pitches." I’ve played the majority of my games here, so I know how to tackle it. It’s just that when I go to hit some shots, you are bound to get out, and sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not, and the majority of the time it hasn’t worked for me. Maybe that’s the reason you think it’s a problem for me, but in my mind, I know there’s no problem.”