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In Visakhapatnam on Monday, Shreyas Iyer provided a classic example of creating one’s own luck. Out of nowhere, he conjured a piece of brilliance on the field that blew the second Test against England wide open. Ben Stokes was the last realistic obstacle between India and a series-leveling victory. The England captain had not yet strapped on, the potential for damage hidden within that power-packed frame would not have gone unnoticed by anyone.
Stokes is a lively person on the field, an athletic and convincing figure. But here, he was a little silly, and he would break into a gentle trot when the need of the moment was greatest. Sensing a half-chance, Iyer ran to his right from mid-wicket and fired a shot on the run to rattle the stumps at the striker’s end and trap talismanic Stokes close to his wicket. England 220 for seven chasing 399, practically plays, sets and draws level with India.
It was Iyer’s second significant contribution in this field. In the first innings, he had made a stunning catch, running back from point, to dismiss the dangerous Zak Crawley, in full flow for a fiery 76. With those two pieces of magic alone, Iyer had done his best in the second proof. Almost.
Batsman Shreyas Iyer needs to pull up his socks
However, Iyer’s main role in the team is that of a specialist batsman. It is there where he is most required to do everything possible. And he will (or at least should) be the first to admit that he hasn’t done it in the five-day game in a while.
Since scoring 87 and 29 in a tense but successful chase against Bangladesh in Chattogram in December 2022, the 29-year-old Mumbaikar has spectacularly lost his ebullience. Either side of back surgery midway through last year, he has a high of 37 in 12 innings; four single-digit scores were offset by five efforts between 26 and 37. Either he died early, which can happen to the best, or he didn’t convert many starts, which is particularly unacceptable. What length of rope does India give to Iyer? Do you stick with him, waiting for him to turn the corner, or do you change things up and allow someone else to showcase his products? Rajat Patidar wasn’t bad at all on his debut in Visakhapatnam, maybe it’s time for the prolific Sarfaraz Khan to give it a try at the expense of his fellow Mumbaikars.
Rohit Sharma, who needs a big score, and Rahul Dravid have emphasized the need for consistency, to give young batsmen the time to find their feet in Test cricket. That’s a laudable philosophy, but does Iyer fall into the ‘young batsmen’ category? He is in his tenth year as a top-class player, with 70 matches and over 5,500 runs to his name; Apart from 14 Tests, he has 110 international appearances in white-ball formats. In his Test debut against New Zealand in November 2021, he announced himself with 105 and 65. In his first 11 Test innings, he accumulated one hundred and five fifties. Surely, having had such an exciting start, should he do more now, especially with Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja on the sidelines?
With Kohli unavailable at the start of the Test series, the team management was spared the unpleasant task in Hyderabad of choosing between Iyer and Shubman Gill, who bounced back from a slump with a fluent second innings hundred in Visakhapatnam. Iyer did not hold on to the life preserver. Some of his shot selection has been questionable, most notably in the second innings of the second Test when, after putting his eye back in, he attempted a great aerial drive without reaching the delivery of the ball, was beaten by the spin and finished. throwing the ball for Stokes to run back from mid on and make the most amazing of catches.
Dravid could well have been alluding to Iyer when he talked about finding the balance between being positive and selecting. “For me, it’s about understanding if we’re making the right decisions: putting pressure on them or recognizing that this is the time to absorb the pressure and maybe be a little more conservative instead of attacking,” the head coach said. The former captain will outright deny that Iyer was the benchmark, but he could easily be, right?
There is no clarity on the status of Kohli and Rahul for the Rajkot Test, which begins on February 15. Therefore, Iyer might get another chance. Maybe then he too will have his own luck with the bat. For his own sake, at least.