Iyer's short ball 'shortcomings'

Just before the start of the SA vs IND 2nd Test Test in Cape Town Shreyas Iyer straightaway walked outside the Newlands Stadium for throwdowns after arriving for an optional training sessionThe two throwdown experts Nuwan Senaviratne the southpaw sidearmer and Raghavendra along with batting coach Vikram Rathour were letting it rip from 18 yardsThe idea was to get the flashy Mumbaikar matchready for short balls which has been his problem across formats from the time he made his debutFew minutes into the session ahead of the SA vs IND 2nd Test he got one throwdown from 18 yards short and mean into the body that kicked up from length It was more than 150 clicks due to the shorter distance traversed The bat didnt come down in time and he was hit on the fleshy area between upper and lower abdomenHe threw his bat and was literally writhing in pain He crouched for some time trying to breathe as the physio and other support staff joined to check on himThe issue was both mental as well as technical as Iyer didnt look comfortable at all but with no worthy middle order reserve batter in the ranks the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper had no competitionHe has so far played six knocks in SENA nations and his sequence of scores were 15 amp 19 Birmingham 31 and 6 Centurion 0 and 4 not out Cape Town His Test average has now dipped from a near 50 to less than 40There is no doubt that Iyer is a master player against spinners and will not have problems tackling James Anderson or Chris Woakes to deliveries that wont rise above knee rollBut on Australian tracks come December 202425 if Iyers game doesnt undergo sea change technically with proper head balance and may be slightly more cheston stance his struggles are certainly going to compoundA slightly cheston stance and a proper back and across movement would give a chance to tackle the bumper stuffBut at nearly 30 years of age with a set muscle memory it could be difficult to change his game upside downAlso ReadShort and sweetIn 198283 Mohinder Amarnath during his dream season had a stance that was a bit cheston and any bouncer that was bowled targeting his right shoulder he would take it on the body and anything on left shoulder would be hooked imperiouslyEasier said than done but Iyer will have to find his own wayIyer is a player who primarily plays with hands with not much pronounced footwork Hence on bouncy tracks he is mentally always expecting short ball and is perennially on back foot even to deliveries where he needed to be on front footHe is having cold feet thinking that he will always be fed with short ballsMy job is to give them confidence Rohit Kohli and KL we all have learnt from travelling captain Rohit Sharma said about Iyer Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal considered to be flag bearers of Indian batting who struggled to cope with bounce They will learn what to do and not to do In India the scenario is different India is also very challenging We have seen wickets like this in India too It will be challenging going forward too You have to learn from these kind of experiences Your confidence goes up when you do well in these conditions Rohit saidAlso ReadThank you WarnerHowever there are skeptics too Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar in an interaction with ESPN Cricinfo said that he expects Gill and Jaiswal to learn by the time Australia tour comes calling but is not so sure about Iyer Recently Iyer didnt like when he was asked about his issues with short ballWhat do you mean he had countered and also felt that its a perception thats being createdIyer is in denial mode now and perhaps could only do course correction when he accepts that he has technical issues while facing short ball