Madan Lal says this Indian batter would struggle in Australia

1983 World Cup winning pacer Madan Lal says Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer would have to immediately resolve some of his issues against the short ball or be prepared to face the barrage in Australia during the T20 World Cup. 

With Iyer often finding himself in awkward angles to counter the short-pitched deliveries, Lal reckons he is highly vulnerable to the quicks aiming for his head and that the player needs to come up with better methods to counter the hard lengths. 

The former India pacer’s remarks on Shreyas Iyer came after his poor showing in the T20I series against South Africa on good Indian pitches. Iyer began well with an encouraging knock of 36 off 27 in Delhi but his scores dipped thereafter.

The ever-determined right-hand batter ended the five-match series with only 94 runs at 23.50 and strike-rate of 123.68. 

Madan Lal puts Shreyas Iyer’s pace struggles under scanner 

“In international cricket, if you have a weakness, oppositions will surely go after it (Iyer’s short-ball weakness). Forget that they won’t. Now he has to sort out himself, has to find out a way,” Madan Lal told Sports Tak. 

“Even if he scores a 100, they (Australians) will clap, but they won’t spare you. There is no mercy here. They will keep bowling short to him. With the kind of technology that exists, any team keeps a strong track of the opposition,” he added. 

Also Read – India’s T20 World Cup journey: Five things we learnt from the T20I series against South Africa

Iyer’s vulnerability against the short ball has been a topic of debates for a while now in Indian cricket. While the batter has kept himself relevant through fine performances from time to time and has a good record across formats for India, his short-ball problems have also been evident to those who care for Indian cricket. 

In the recent IPL, leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Iyer got out thrice against the short ball, albeit he ended the tournament with 401 runs at a strike-rate of 134.56. The last time he visited the Aussie shores for the limited-overs leg of the 2020-21 trip, Shreyas Iyer had scores of 0, 12*, 2, 38 and 19 in his five innings.