Shreyas Iyer last played for India in February 2018 against South Africa. He didn’t get to bat in the match as a century from Virat Kohli took India to an easy win. Ajinkya Rahane batted at No 4 and Iyer was scheduled to come in at No 5. The senior team hasn’t given him a call-up since but he has spent plenty of time with the India ‘A’ team.
But against Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, Iyer showed why perhaps the national selectors should have given him a few more chances to prove his mettle. On a tough wicket, he guided his team Delhi Capitals to a relatively comfortable win. And it is on such wickets that the true quality of a batsman stands out.
Playing strokes on the wicket, as Virat Kohli’s laboured innings of 41 (31 balls) earlier had shown, wasn’t easy but Iyer came out and batted positively. He also showed a great deal of maturity, controlling the innings with enough singles and hitting the odd big shot to keep the pressure from mounting.
“It was tough to bat on. I decided to play positive. I did not want their bowlers to get on top of me. That was my mindset and it worked out well. I was trying to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps. Take singles to rotate the strike,” said Iyer after the match.
In a way, he stood out from the rest of the batsmen. Prithvi Shaw displayed some sparkling strokes as well but there is something special about Iyer’s batsmanship – some of the cut shots he hit during his innings . If he can ever marry his batting with consistency, he will go a long way. He should.
The man to eventually dismiss Iyer was the 26-year-old Navdeep Saini. It was a short ball that got too big on Iyer. It was short and it was quick. Saini has been rapid this season – bowling at faster than 150 km/h and his accuracy has been good too. He, too, has been an India ‘A’ regular but the selectors haven’t judged him to be the senior team level yet.
Saini earned a maiden Test call-up for the one-off Test against Afghanistan last June. But with India’s pace bowling stocks at an all-time high, that one chance didn’t translate into something more permanent.
“I realised there’s a lot of difference,” Saini said about bowling in domestic cricket as compared to the national team. “The main thing is, when you are bowling in the India nets, you can’t afford to relax. You have to give 110%. You can’t compromise on anything in any department. The mindset also changes because that level is totally different. Virat keeps telling me: ‘show the same intensity of a match at the nets also. In the nets if you’re conditioned to give 110%, you will be at 95% level in the match, because there’s added pressure.’ Bowling to top batsmen like Kohli and De Villiers gives me a lot of confidence.”
That confidence is showing in matches now. He is running in fast, taking brilliant catches and showing that he is more than capable of matching it with the best. He ended up with match figures of 4-0-24-2 and while he has only claimed four wickets in five matches this IPL season, he could have had more wickets to his name given the kind of bowling he has produced.
World Cup bus
In a sense, both these players should be competing for two spots in the Indian team that are still up for grabs. The No 4 position in batting order is still undecided as is the fourth paceman’s position.
Ambati Rayudu, India’s current favourite for the No 4 slot, struggled against stronger opposition. Dinesh Karthik hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence either and the selectors reportedly believe that he is only cut out for T20 cricket. Rishabh Pant’s iffy shot selection makes him a doubt. Vinay Shankar’s all-round talents can be crucial to the balance of the team but is he as good a batsman as Iyer?
The Mumbai batsman’s classy batting should at least make him a contender. Kohli has said that this IPL will have no bearing on the squad that will be picked for the World Cup but will it be as easy to ignore current form?
The same holds true for the raw Saini. He has looked better than Umesh Yadav, out-bowled and out-fielded Mohammed Siraj. Khaleel Ahmed still hasn’t got a game for Sunrisers Hyderabad while Ishant Sharma hasn’t quite set the IPL on fire and Shardul Thakur hasn’t looked the part either.
Saini’s inexperience will count against him but bowling to Virat Kohli in the nets everyday should be a big advantage. The India skipper will have the best idea of what the speedster is capable of.
Both Iyer and Saini are long shots, no doubt, but for the moment, they have put their best foot forward. We have a few days to go before India name their World Cup squad — can they both find a way to create an even greater impact?