India’s middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer produced a fighting half-century in the second ODI against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, October 23. His crucial 118-run stand with Rohit Sharma for the third wicket rescued India after early dismissals of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in the seventh over by Xavier Bartlett.
The partnership formed the backbone of India’s innings, helping them reach 264/9 after 50 overs. Despite the solid recovery, Australia managed to chase down the target in 46.2 overs, winning the match by two wickets.
Speaking after the game, Iyer opened up about the technical adjustment that has sparked discussion among fans and experts. The Mumbai batter revealed he recently adopted an upright stance to counter extra bounce on certain pitches.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒘,” 𝑰𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. “𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.”
He added that the shift was partly a return to his roots.
“𝑰 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒖𝒑 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅. 𝑰 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
Shreyas Iyer on His Partnership With Rohit Sharma and Adapting to Conditions
Reflecting on his partnership with Rohit, Iyer said their focus was on steadying the innings and handling Josh Hazlewood’s tight spell.
“𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑯𝒂𝒛𝒍𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 — 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚.”
Iyer further discussed how his stance helps him not only in Australia but also on red-soil pitches in Mumbai, where bounce can be unpredictable.
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒊, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒔,” 𝑰𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒅𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.”
The 30-year-old’s adaptability and composure continue to be key traits in India’s middle order as the team prepares for the series decider.
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