Shreyas' struggle against short deliveries is a false narrative, feels his father Santosh Iyer

Shreyas Iyer's father Santosh Iyer spoke his mind about the Indian batter's career and denied any claims of him struggling against short balls in an exclusive chat with ETV Bharat's Nishad Bapat.

Hyderabad:India has been going strong in the World Cup 2023 winning all of their games so far. Star batter Shreyas Iyer has played a key role for the team chipping in with 216 runs across seven innings with an average of 43.20.

However, there have been claims of the right-handed batter struggling against short deliveries in the cricket fraternity but he had denied that in a recent press conference. Shreyas' father Santosh Iyer has echoed the same sentiment saying that all the talk about him finding it difficult to face short deliveries is a false narrative.

"It is a false narrative that he struggles against short deliveries. He is a good player. Every player has some positives and negatives in their game and they should keep working on it while going forward," Santosh Iyer told ETV Bharat in an exclusive interaction.

Shreyas played a brilliant knock of 82 in the game against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium helping the team cross the 300-run mark in the game. However, Iyer had failed to play a big knock in the previous three games with scores of 19, 33 and 4. Reflecting on his knock, Santosh Iyer stated that his son showed determination to play an impressive blitz in the match.

"The last fixture was a brilliant one for India. Shreyas' knock played a key role in helping the team post a huge total. He was going through a low phase earlier after putting up low scores in a couple of games. Outside noise from spectators and media affected him to some extent but he showed a strong determination to overcome it," he remarked.

Shreyas was away from the game for a long time after suffering an injury and went through rehab at the Bengaluru-based National Cricket Academy.

Santosh revealed that his family kept him motivated as well and the doctors and physios at NCA helped him to recover as soon as possible.

"Shreyas went through a bad phase as he was away from the competitive action due to the injury for a long time. But, with the increased workload, injuries are part and parcel of the game. We supported him to get through the tough time and get back on track to shine with the willow once again. Also, doctors at the NCA helped him heal. Thanks to selectors and Indian team management also for backing him to make an impressive comeback," he explained.

Santosh also stated that Shreyas' confidence and spirit to never give up are the qualities that youngsters can emulate to succeed as professional cricketers. He also cited one example from his days in junior cricket.

"Confidence is the element that can be drawn from his career by the youngsters. In the Under-16 days, while playing for Mumbai, he was going through a rough patch once. I suggested to him that he try playing for Kerala as there was a coach from Mumbai who was coaching the Kerala side at that time. However, Shreyas was adamant in his stance and insisted that he would keep playing for Mumbai rejecting the offer," he concluded.