Shreyas Iyer (left) and Mukesh Kumar (AFP/BCCI)
Shreyas Iyer has joined the Indian T20I squad for the remaining two matches of the series and in the nets, he was honing his skills against the short ball.
Recovering from Glenn Maxwell’s assault in Guwahati, Suryakumar Yadav’s Team India have assembled in Raipur for the fourth T20I against Australia on Friday. While the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium gears up to host its first-ever T20I, the young guns seek redemption after losing a high-scoring thriller just a few days back.
The hosts have looked in fine touch, barring a few little things and to empower the campaign, Shreyas Iyer has joined the team following a break after the World Cup. While his teammates were warming up with a foot volley-ball session, Iyer was busy with the basic routine before hitting the nets.
Whatever time Iyer spent in the nets, he trained against short-pitch deliveries. The throw-down specialists challenged him with different speeds. But far from what all has been said about his weakness against the short balls, Iyer was pulling them down the leg side with authority.
The Mumbai batter has risen as the solution to India’s No. 4 riddle and the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 was evidence to that. He scored 530 runs in 11 games, including two hundred and a fifty, averaging 66.25. However, against the Aussies in the final, his show wasn’t too impressive and he’ll hope to get over the heartbreak in Raipur.
Leggie Ravi Bishnoi addressed the pre-match press conference and spoke about Iyer joining the camp in Raipur.
“It will make a big impact in our batting lineup. He brings a lot of reputation in T20 cricket and has been in good form in the World Cup. As a senior player his experience will also help us,” Bishnoi told media on Thursday.
Captain Surya gives freedom to his boys
Suryakumar Yadav is leading the side for the first time in a home series. After budding under the wings of captain Rohit Sharma in the Mumbai Indians camp, it’s time for him to flourish on the big stage and his boys speak highly of him.
Bishnoi is one of them who has been the pick of the Indian bowlers so far in the ongoing series. The 23-year-old has grabbed six wickets in three games and is thankful to the captain for giving him a freehand.
“As a captain, Surya bhai gives you a free hand, he gives you all the right to place the fielders, the length that you want to bowl but you have to deliver in your execution. He has been doing great captaincy in the last 2-3 matches,” said Bishnoi.
Mukesh back after wedding
Newly-wed Mukesh Kumar wasted no time after tying the knot and took the first flight to Raipur to join the squad. Repeated chats with bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule pushed him every time he rushed into the nets.
However, he seemed to have been hit near the eye after some time which left him down with pain.
Soon Mukesh headed towards the dressing room with a white towel on his eye.
Before anyone could realise what happened, he was back with a smile, shook hands with Bahutule and was firing all cylinders again. Luckily, all is well.
Ishan, Rinku, Gaikwad on song
It was raining sixes around the park when the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad batted together in the nets. The fireworks were so deadly that one of the shots went to hit cricketer-turned-commentator Amit Mishra who was on air for official broadcasters JioCinema.
Laser light show at the stadium
As the capital city of Chhattisgarh is set to host its first T20I, the state association has planned more than cricket to entertain the fans. There will be a laser show once the match concludes.
