Air Shreyas… pure magic
Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s Shreyas Iyer.
T20 cricket is raat gayi, baat gayi stuff. You watch it, enjoy it and forget it. Some actions transcend the stereotype and stay with you. Sheryas’ catch, assist actually, to dismiss Hardik Pandya produced the moment of magic in the Mumbai Indians versus Punjab Kings game at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
The scoreboard read: Pandya c Bartlett b Jansen 14. Never mind. Neville Cardus deemed the scoreboard as an “ass” long ago.
Xavier Bartlett bowled a knuckleball to Pandya who slapped it towards long-on. It looked like he gave it enough power to clear the rope. Shreyas, though, sensed an opportunity. He started to run, dived back and was almost parallel to the ground when he caught the ball. He was in a limbo but still had the strength and the presence of mind to throw the ball back to Bartlett. Pandya was convinced and started to walk back to the pavilion. In the dugout, Rohit Sharma, rendered hors de combat for the game due to a hamstring injury, looked at Shreyas in disbelief, his eyes wide open.
MI were on 175 in the 18th over when Pandya got out. They reached 195/6 after 20 overs, about 20 runs below par. Pandya’s dismissal was the difference between the hosts finishing below 200 and getting to 220. “My catch was the key to pulling things back, but we have the tendency to do that,” Shreyas told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “Did that even against SRH. We have to be present and enjoy the moment. We haven’t decided on how to set totals, lucky to have won tosses so far. We have a lot of positive players ready to go out there and express themselves. You need to keep getting better each game, focus on yourselves and that’s the recipe we have been following.”
At the post-match press conference, Sairaj Bahutule, Punjab Kings’ spin-bowling coach, dittoed. “Yes, Shreyas’ catch was a deciding factor, he is a special person for me,” said the former India leg-spinner.
Only a few months ago, Shreyas had suffered a career-threatening injury while taking Alex Carey’s catch in Australia. It wasn’t at the back of his mind he went for Pandya’s catch. Courage personified.
Move on to Shreyas’ batting — he scored yet another half-century. Jasprit Bumrah used the short ball against him, but the Punjab Kings captain was ready. “Shreyas now, over a period of time, understands his game. Not only his smartness but execution as well,” said Bahutule.
Even Mahela Jayawardene, the MI head coach, was effusive in Shreyas’ praise. “I think he has been quite consistent last season as well,” said the Sri Lankan great at the presser. “He led the team from the front and the way he went about (his task) even today… The last few games, you know, he has shown a lot of class. I have to acknowledge that. And yeah, I mean it’s great depth in Indian cricket and I guess that is where it is. But he will find his opportunities where it matters, I would say.”
Meanwhile, Jayawardene said Rohit would be assessed on a day-to-day basis and the medical team would take the call. The former captain has started running and the head coach confirmed that the injury is not serious.
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