For the limited-overs cricket, Shreyas Iyer has often been considered as Virat Kohli's successor in Team India at No. 3. The 27-year-old did remarkably well earlier this year against Sri Lanka at his preferred position when Kohli was on a break against Sri Lanka in the T20I series. However, he looked lacklustre against South Africa in the recent five-match T20I series. There, although he got 36 and 40 in the first two games, he did not have any impact in the next two, and his strike rate (123.68) was not really impressive at all. In total, he aggregated 94 runs.
Madan Lal, one of the integral members of India's 1983 World Cup-winning squad, came up with his thoughts on Iyer during a recent interaction with Sports Tak. The former Indian all-rounder mentioned Iyer must work hard against short balls, otherwise, there will be no mercy for him in Australia when he will travel for the T20 World Cup later this year.
"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. Even if he scores a 100, they (Australians) will clap, but they won't spare you," Madan Lal told Sports Tak.
"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."
If Iyer can keep up his current form for the next couple of months, there is no reason why he cannot produce a strong case for himself, despite there being a stiff fight for positions in India's middle order. Having said that, former India all-rounder Madan Lal has pointed out a glaring error in Iyer's game, which if not taken care of, will lead to his downfall in Australia. Lal, like many former cricketers, feel that Iyer is vulnerable to short-pitch bowling and if he can't find out a way to get out of this tangle, the oppositions will Australia will expose his game.
"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. 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," Lal said on Sports Tak.
Iyer's susceptibility against the short ball first came to light during the limited-overs leg of India's 2020 tour of Australia, where he scored 0, 12 not out, 2, 38 and 19 from five matches. Ever since, Iyer has often appeared uncomfortable against the short-pitched stuff. This was visible even more in his batting for Kolkata Knight Riders during the IPL 2022. In 12 innings this season, he has been dismissed to a short ball thrice among his five dismissals by pacers.
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