“If you keep a long-off fielder from the first over, I will go over him,” Shreyas Iyer had told R. Sai Kishore while the two were batting in adjacent nets on the eve of their Buchi Babu tournament match. “Go for it,” the left-arm spinner was quick to reply. This friendly banter set up an exciting phase of play when Shreyas walked out to bat against Sai Kishore.
The TNCA XI skipper did not keep a conventional long-off. Rather, he strategically placed a fielder straight behind him on the boundary. The unorthodox approach bore fruit immediately as Shreyas’ pull shot went straight to short midwicket.
The job was just half done… a certain Suryakumar Yadav arrived at the crease at No. 4.
The flamboyant batter brought out his trademark sweep shot in no time. The TNCA XI captain gave himself protection on the leg side to keep the Mumbai batter at bay.
Mr. 360, though, did not have any difficulty in working the angles as he went on to access the straight and cover boundaries off Achyuth before playing an exquisite inside-out shot over mid-off for a maximum off Sai Kishore.
Realising that Suryakumar was running away with the game (78.95 strike rate), Sai Kishore brought on fellow left-arm tweaker S. Ajith Ram — who had bowled just two overs at the beginning of the innings — back into the attack.
This bowling change, too, clicked immediately as Suryakumar holed out to mid-on while attempting to go for another four.
“Suryakumar has too many shots. He can do sweeps, reverse sweeps and everything. I concentrated on my length, and it came out well,” Ajith Ram said here on Wednesday.
While the brownie points went to Sai Kishore & Co. on day two, Shreyas and Suryakumar will be keen on settling the scores soon.
