[WATCH] Shreyas Iyer walks into England's trap, falls to the short ball again

A combination of images show Shreyas Iyer playing the pull short that led to his dismissal in the second innings of the Birmingham Test. Pic: ECB
A combination of images show Shreyas Iyer playing the pull short that led to his dismissal in the second innings of the Birmingham Test. Pic: ECB

Team India's middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer's woes against the short ball continued as he fell to a rising delivery again on Day 4 of the Birmingham Test against England.

Well aware of Shreyas' weakness, England laid a trap for the Indian batter, who easily walked into it.

In the 60th over of India's innings, England pacer Matthew Potts played on Shreyas' (19) ego, delivering a short ball around head-high. The fielders were in place for a false stroke but the batter, perhaps keen to prove the critics wrong, went for the pull.

Unfortunately for him, the right-handed batter failed to connect properly. It looked like Shreyas was trying to keep the ball down.

However, it did not work as the stroke went straight to mid-wicket, where James Anderson made no mistake in holding on to a simple catch.

Shreyas' wicket saw India lose half their side for 190 in their second innings. The 27-year-old right-handed batter was dismissed by a rising delivery in the first innings of the Birmingham Test as well.

He was strangled down leg off pacer Anderson for 15 as England keeper Sam Billings took a brilliant catch.

Coming back to India's second innings, Rishabh Pant perished immediately after Shreyas' wicket for 57 off 86 balls. Earlier, Cheteshwar Pujara was also dismissed by Stuart Broad for 66 as England bowlers led a commendable fightback for the hosts.


Shreyas Iyer's ever-rising short-ball woes

Shreyas Iyer made an incredible Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur last year, striking a hundred and a fifty. However, his problems against the short ball were no secret even then.

He had a horrendous time in the three-match ODI series in Australia in 2020-21, scoring only 59 runs in three matches.

Since that tour, most teams have attempted the short ball ploy against the right-handed batter and have succeeded quite often.

Not only in international cricket, but the cricketer fell to the short ball a number of times in IPL 2022 as well, while leading the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise.

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