In the 12th over of India D’s second innings on Saturday, India B captain Abhimanyu Iswaran was setting up a creative field.
There was deep square leg, short leg and another long leg. There was also Musheer Khan stationed at short leg, waiting to devour any inside corner that might fall his way while Mukesh Kumar stood on his mark at the South End of the Rural Development Trust Stadium B-ground.
Short fine leg’s Suryakumar Yadav gives advice to deep fine leg’s teammate Mohit Avasthi. “Aadaa maarne de usse. How many boundaries were hit in the middle of the wicket? (Let him hit it over the line. How many fours has he hit mid-wicket?” he pleaded with Avasti, who had just finished his 11th over.
Suryakumar’s frustration was not as great as expected. India B had been bowled out by 67 runs in the first innings but they smelled blood when India D were left floundering at 3 for 18. But the fiery start organised by Mukesh and Navdeep Saini seemed to be extinguished by Shreyas Iyer’s upset.
Shreyas became a bit of a meme when he fitted his stunning Oakley glasses into his creases to return without messing up the score in seven balls in the Duleep Trophy. With 104 runs in five innings, he failed to turn a corner against the selectors who desperately wanted him back in India’s Test set-up. So his team’s dire straits provided the opportune moment for a last-minute plot hijack.
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His confident front foot block against Saini initially suggested Shreyas was ready to come to the rescue. There was one misdirected aerial cover drive that could have landed on the left hand of a diving Easwaran. But he realised his mistake and quickly got himself under control.
India B fielded two catcher-cover fielders, but needed more to break his great self-control.
Needing a perfect win to remain in the Duleep Trophy title race, India B could not afford to play the waiting game. In First-Class cricket, it may be a romantic account to exert effort through attrition, but given their circumstances, it was not enough. Realizing this, India B resorted to a strategy they should have used much earlier: bowling bouncers.
There are plenty of stories about Shreyas’s struggles with the short ball. He has been out on that length 14 times in international cricket, but has barely been tested in this Duleep Trophy. He has a meager average of 11.34 against short pitches and a dot ball rate of 56.
India C’s Vishaq Vijaykumar tried briefly in the first round but didn’t seem too enthusiastic. On Saturday, Mukesh and Saini showed no hesitation in sticking to their guns and sticking to their guns.
Shreyas’ challenge then turned into a tense, desperate affair as he scored 50 runs off 37 balls.
He did his job against most bouncers. He held his position, kept his head still, and swung back into the crease. He was quick to swing from their line and could duck under them too. The one he couldn’t avoid was buried in the ground right in front of him, safely out of Musheer’s reach. The onside field was so packed that it was impossible to pull.
But that got him out of the front foot game. Saini was probing him to the point where he was getting on the back foot and getting stuck in the crease, which started in the 10th over when he slashed Saini’s wide ball with his left foot.
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Avasthi’s over, the 11th of the innings, revealed the flaw. The crowd started clapping in sync as they ran to the crease, indicating that the contest was near.
With a boundary rider deep on the onside, Avasti swaggered and powered through his first delivery, Shreyas’ fork off the line caught the inside edge and ran past the keeper for a boundary. He powered through again for the second, and Shreyas was already deep in the crease, balancing on his toes. His vertical jab from a slipped delivery caught the bat’s toes and beat the keeper for his second boundary.
The third was much shorter, read early and neatly blocked through the ravine, and the frantic four-delivery passage was closed, Shreyas threw his hand to the wider one and slipped through again.
When the fifth fish came towards him with a hook, Shreyas stopped his reckless fishing and hit another single with a back foot through extra cover.
Without TV coverage on the field, the game would have been a mere 16 runs scored on four pitches, lacking context and appeal.
In the next over, Mukesh explained why Suryakumar wanted Shreyas to play across the line. Shreyas convinced himself to pass two short balls to the keeper, but he couldn’t help but pull the third ball, the only ball in the 40-ball essay. The result was a top edge to Suryakumar at short fine leg.
Mukesh was unwavering in the next over, and Shreyas’ patience finally paid off. It wouldn’t have been unusual for Shreyas to instinctively try an uppercut on this bouncer in any other situation, but here it was. The third man, who was better than usual, was positioned for that shot.
India D were 93 for 4, with Shreyas’ short counterattack halted. The India B pacers worked together to remind Shreyas of his nemesis.
For Shreyas, whose instincts had once again betrayed him, it was another missed opportunity.
