How Shreyas Iyer changed his strategy against bouncers and scored a century against Netherlands

Unlike his innings at the Eden Gardens, this was Shreyas Iyer at his free-flowing best. He had to ensure that his wickets were not thrown away by the likes of Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

India's Shreyas Iyer celebrates after scoring a century against the Netherlands cricket team. (Photo: Reuters)

During his furious 128, Shreyas Iyer would repeat a movement at the non-striker's end. It was shadow batting but with a special slant to it. He taps the bat, holds it and looks over his shoulder to make sure it's aligned parallel to the ground and not vertically behind his shoulder like when the World Cup started. 

He would then begin his downward bat swing, as if he were pulling a small ball, paying full attention to whether the bat was coming down horizontally at eye level. He did this move till the end of the innings.

Shreyas' problems against short-pitched deliveries are well documented. Since returning from injury, once against Pakistan in the Asia Cup and twice this World Cup against New Zealand and England, Shreyas has fallen short. At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, before the Sri Lanka game, he spent long hours with head coach Rahul Dravid to overcome the problem.

Mohammad Kaif, a former Indian batsman who commentates on Star Sports, noticed the change. With before and after scenes contrasting his tweaked technique with his outing against England, Kaif explained the change. Against England, he held the bat vertically, with the tip of the toe pointing skyward, and it tilted further towards the ear before it began to descend to meet the ball. Not only is this wasting precious seconds, it is also affecting the smoothness of the bat swing.

Next, the course-correction visual was highlighted. As he had done against the Netherlands, the bat was now held behind him, not exactly parallel to the ground, but certainly not vertically up as before.

India's Shreyas Iyer batting in the field against the Netherlands cricket team. (Photo: Reuters)

His bat is swinging back, which means he's getting power on shots. At the same time, it allows him to meet the ball in front,” Kaif said. The visuals prove it. Against England, because he was late coming down with the bat, he shrank when he met the ball, forcing him to play the ball too close to the body.

Against the Netherlands and South Africa, the bat came down smoothly and quickly and he could wallop the ball well in front of his body with almost full arm extension. Anyone who would have created space as the ball dropped so that he could hit the bat over cover or through mid-wicket, this change allowed Shreyas to settle into the crease. Mayank Agarwal used to hold the bat-end towards Akash, until Sunil Gavaskar asked him to correct it. Mayank's coach RX Murali explained the reason for the vertical bat-lift to this newspaper.

The bat is heaviest when parallel to the ground. When it's vertically up - or down - it's lightest. When it faces 90-degrees to the sky or downwards, it is lighter. Mayank was not comfortable putting it down. So, we decided to accept it." But the problem started in the downswing. "He cocked his wrists so much that his bat sometimes went over his front shoulder. It didn't help him time the ball well. Because he had to uncock it completely before hitting the ball, he Wasn't able to repeat it consistently."

Now changing the angle and height of the bat to course-correct those wrist-unlocking misses. Notably, he tweeted in the middle of the World Cup campaign. Doing this when the stakes are high requires a lot of conviction and trust from team-management. Rahul Dravid put it on the eve of the match. “Everybody will have areas that they need to work on and improve on, not – maybe someone has other areas, there's no complete batsman who can say I can, I know everything or I'm very good at everything?

You are always going to need areas for improvement. But at the end of the day, you must be judged by the results you produce. And the runs you make and when you make them,” Dravid said of Shreyas' struggles against the short ball.

Kham Chiti was at least retained on Diwali night whenever the Dutch tested him, with Shreyas keeping the ball in front of his eyes with the bat face in the best position the moment he made contact with the ball. A rigorous test against a quality attack will reveal the true picture, but Shreyas has ample reason to feel encouraged.