Shreyas Iyer challenged with short-ball ploy upon Ranji Trophy return

Even earlier than Bhupen Lalwani and Suved Parkar had crossed boundary line after lunch was referred to as on Day One of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy tie in opposition to Andhra, Shreyas Iyer – the subsequent batter in Mumbai’s order – had taken guard on the observe nets on the sidelines.

While batting coach Vinit Indulkar and a side-arm specialist hurled quick balls at him, Atharva Ankolekar bowled left-arm spin to Shreyas, who batted flawlessly for nearly half an hour.

Having returned from South Africa earlier within the week and omitted from the T20I squad for India’s ongoing sequence in opposition to Afghanistan, Shreyas had skipped the group’s pre-match coaching session on Thursday. The quick session seemed to be a routine to get a really feel of the circumstances.

Half an hour after resumption, Shreyas took guard once more – this time the place it mattered – after opener Bhupen Lalwani had perished. The subsequent eighty-four minutes noticed Shreyas coping with a constant bowling assault with none fuss.

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It didn’t come as a shock that quickly after he had acquired his eye in – and Suved Parkar at his affected person finest on the different finish – Andhra employed the short-ball ploy, with a 6-3 discipline on the on-side, in opposition to him.

While Shreyas had confronted the side-armers over the wicket, for many of his innings, the Andhra pacers, particularly Nithish Kumar Reddy, most well-liked bowling across the wicket to him. Captain Ricky Bhui and senior professional Hanuma Vihari did their finest to unsettle Shreyas by using revolutionary fielding positions.

But Shreyas was affected person. He left the ball properly and compelled debutant PVSN Raju into errors. It displayed in his fluent on-drive and a pull. Very quickly, a crowd had gathered on the terrace of a company constructing throughout the street to get pleasure from Shreyas’ batting.

There had been no loud cheers, however Shreyas was coming into his component however. The spotlight of his run-a-ball 48 was the 54th over of the innings that noticed Shreyas enjoying two sterling pulls and a crisp cover-drive to the fence to enter the 40s.

Three overs therefore, and 6 minutes earlier than Tea, Shreyas fell prey to Nithish bowling across the wicket and broad of off-stump. He chased a large one and the sting rested in wicketkeeper UMS Girinath’s gloves.

“We actually planned the bouncers for Shreyas, but since we were conceding too many runs, that’s when we came to the normal plan and we bowled full. And it worked,” Nithish would reveal after the day’s play.

The crowd from the terrace throughout the street quickly disappeared and Shreyas’ return to Ranji Trophy after 5 years remained with out him celebrating a landmark.