Mumbai: It wasn’t a ripper from Chris Woakes which climbed on his face in Lucknow on Sunday.
The ball was pitched short and Shreyas Iyer first took a tiny forward movement, arrested it and then opened himself up without going back and across in his crease. The pull resulted in a looping top edge in his attempt to seize a scoring opportunity as Shreyas miserably failed to pick the length.
It didn’t make for pretty viewing as Shreyas continued to fall prey to the short stuff. India’s No.4 has been shaken by such deliveries on several occasions.
Shreyas though has made no concerted effort to overcome this weakness. He has never tried to sway away from the line or duck. He commits himself to the shot without being in the proper position and is unable to find the escape route.
Having returned from a back surgery, Shreyas has never looked in fine nick though there has been no apparent discomfort in his movements on the field. He scratched around for 16 deliveries for his 4 runs on Sunday, never evoking any confidence in
the ranks.
Besides a century against Australia in the Indore ODI in the run-up to the World Cup and a 53 not out against Pakistan in Ahmedabad, Shreyas has had a timid presence. On the two-paced Lucknow wicket, he was exposed both technically and temperamentally. He seems to be engrossed in the thought of tackling the short delivery which has created a mental block in his approach.
But the think-tank seems to have much faith in his counter-attacking ploy at the start to seize the initiative from the opposition. Shreyas averages 33.50 in the six World Cup matches and it could be interesting to see if he retains his position once Hardik Pandya is back.
Ishan Kishan has been waiting in the wings since the return of Shubman Gill from dengue. Ishan had an innings of 47 against Afghanistan in Delhi and the left-hander is adept at both opening and batting lower down the order.
He could be tried out against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Thursday if the team management decides to keep Shreyas out. Ishan also provides the left-right combination option which could work in favour of the Indians.
With the semi-final berth certain now, it would be the best opportunity to try out a new combination. With game-changer Suryakumar Yadav scoring an effective 49 off 47 balls towards the close against England, he will remain in contention.
It will be a choice between Ishan and Surya once Pandya is back. KL Rahul can then move up to the No. 4 spot followed by Pandya. There’s no point in sticking to a non-performer or someone with technical issues since the bowlers will always try to make the most of his weakness.
It was only because of India’s incisive bowling that the batters’ shortcomings, except for Rohit Sharma, didn’t get exposed. Both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami tormented the English batters to wind up their innings in 34.5 overs. Even Mohammed Siraj’s troublesome ankle did not come in the way.
