Shreyas Iyer who produced a match-winning performance for the Indian team in their thumping 302-run victory over Sri Lanka on Thursday in the ongoing World Cup, snapped at a reporter during the post-match press conference.
Iyer played a sensational knock of 82 in the middle overs to steer India to a massive total of 357/8 in the first innings. He displayed a variety of shots from his arsenal, which also included pull shots.
In recent times, Iyer has lost his wickets a number of times while attempting to play the pull shot. This was noticed in the Aisa Cup during India's encounter with arch-rival Pakistan.
In the post-match press conference, Iyer was quizzed about short ball being a problem for him and Iyer, in reply, snapped at the reporter saying: "When you say it's a problem for me what do you mean?"
The reporter rephrased his question and asked "Not a problem, problem exactly but it has troubled you."
To which Iyer replied, "Troubled me? Have you seen how many pull shots I've scored? Especially which has gone for four."
Iyer went on to state that as batters they can get out on any delivery whether it is a short delivery or an over-pitched delivery.
"If you're trying to hit a ball, you're bound to get out anyway. Irrespective it's a short ball, it's an over pitch. If I get bowled two or three times, you all would say that, OK, he can't play an in-swinging ball. He can't play a cut if a ball is seeming," Iyer said.
"So, see, we, as players are bound to get out on any sort of deliveries. You guys have created that environment outside that he can't play a short ball. And I feel that people are picking that up every now and then and it plays on your mind regularly and you keep working on that," Iyer added.
Iyer then went on to say that on a surface like Wankhede where he has played a lot of cricket, he knows how to tackle the delivery. Even if some of his shots work or don't it doesn't mean that a particular delivery becomes his weakness.
"Coming from Mumbai, especially from Wankhede, where the bounce is pretty much even and it bounces way more than any other pitches. So, I've played majority of my games here, so I know how to tackle it. It's just that when I go to hit some shots, you are bound to get out and sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not. And majority of the times it hasn't worked for me, maybe that's the reason you think it's a problem for me. But in my mind, I know there's no problem," Iyer said.
He admitted that it was difficult for him to move after the back injury he suffered earlier this year. He sat out for more than six months, having undergone a surgery to overcome the problem.
"Yes, it was a difficult ride to come out of an injury, especially in terms of fielding. I wasn't able to move as I used to before. But the trainers and the physios, they worked pretty hard on me, especially in terms of recovering after the games, because 50 overs, it takes a lot of toll on your body," he said.
Iyer said he was not able to capitalise on the starts he got in some of the matches in the World Cup but wanted to bat with a more aggressive intent against Sri Lanka.
"It was playing on my mind right from the start, because I was getting tremendous starts in the first few games. I wasn't just able to capitalize on what I was getting to.
"I just told myself that if it's there in my area, I'm just going to go take the bull by the horns. And yeah, fortunately, it worked for me and I hope that it keeps on working for me in the future as well, because the team is in a great space at the moment,” he added.
