Shreyas Iyer makes a case for himself, again

CUTTACK: On the eve of the first ODI against England, some of the Indian batters were having a hit at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal were the first to pair up as the duo had an intense session facing throwdowns. On the other side of the square were Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja playing spinners.

That is when, wearing a full-sleeve training jersey and a blue floppy hat, Shreyas Iyer walked in. He would go on to take slip catches alongside Rishabh Pant, shadow bat behind Rohit Sharma while he was taking throwdowns for the next hour. Almost as if he might not necessarily be playing. Turns out, he wasn’t. Not until late in the night, when he was watching a movie and got told by the captain that he actually might as Kohli had reported a sore right knee.

First things first though. That India decided to not play Iyer in the first place is something to be looked at before going further. The No 4 problem India have had for the better part of the previous decade in the ODI format was resolved only when the Mumbai batter came into the picture. Right from the time he made his debut, despite being in and out of the team, Iyer has made the most of every chance he got. In fact, he has done more than that.

Take all the batters who has a minimum of 1000 runs at No 4 in ODIs. There are 79 of them. Among them, Iyer is the only one to average over 50 and have a strike rate over 100. And this is a list that includes the likes Kohli, AB de Villiers, Michael Bevan, MS Dhoni, and Ross Taylor. In India’s run to the final of the 2023 home ODI World Cup, Iyer amassed 530 runs at 66.25 average and more importantly at a strike rate of 113.24. If Kohli was the anchor to Sharma’s early onslaught, Iyer was the middle-order maverick for India at the global event. His downfall in the final was in fact the turning point that helped Australia put brakes on Indian batting.

And yet, in what was their only preparation for the Champions Trophy, India had decided to start without Iyer. The rationale behind is the template to have at least one left-hander in the middle. It is how the team has been operating since Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach. So much that at times it has left many wondering about the need to be rigid about it. While that is part of a larger discussion, it meant Iyer was not starting the first ODI, at least until late on Thursday.

But then when Kohli walked out with a strapped knee and Sharma said that he was missing out, Iyer was ready for it. If anything he, and Shubman Gill who was slotted at No 3, had to be. For, one of them could miss out as and when Kohli comes back. And so it happened that the duo was in the middle early when India were desperate to reboot while chasing 249. Two players whose best format is ODIs trying to build an innings.

Gill stuck to his methods, while Iyer came as a treat to the packed crowd who were disappointed to not see Kohli play and witness Sharma’s early dismissal. Iyer kicked off with a boundary through the legside, but he knew what was coming – bouncers. There has been a clear pattern of dismissals against short-pitched delivery for the Mumbai batter, and he was up against Jofra Archer. Iyer was ready though. He kept his open stance, went back into the crease, and lofted the short ball in front of square over the midwicket boundary. The kind of shot that makes you drop everything you do and take notice. He followed it up with a ramp on the very next ball for another six.

To put it precisely, Iyer was cooking. Saqib Mahmood was swatted, Brydon Carse was cut and driven while Adil Rashid was reverse swept. Such was the onslaught that Iyer raced to his fifty in just 30 balls. While he would fall six balls later, adding another nine runs, Iyer had turned the tide and set the chase for India. Gill scored 87 and Axar Patel hit a fifty as India got home in the end.

It did not look as easy when Iyer had walked in. But that is who he is. No matter the situation no matter the context, Iyer has zero sense of insecurity or doubt about himself or what he is capable of. He has always been that collared-up, gum-chewing guy who couldn’t give two cents about what others think of him. He is comfortable in his skin. It is something he had spoken about in a video shared by the BCCI ahead of the first ODI on his time away from Indian team last year. “I feel this gap that I got from international cricket has given me a lot of learnings. To be honest, I don't run behind success, I follow a certain type of routine and preparation which will take me towards success. For me, champion is…me. It is all in the mind, I personally feel there is no one to support you other than yourself,” he had said on BCCI.tv.

Thursday was yet another occasion where Iyer walked the talk and lived up to his words. There is still a good chance he might not play come Sunday. But if that happens, it would not be because of Iyer. For, he has done everything in his power to show what he brings to the table and why he should be one of the first names on the ODI team sheet.