How times change in the space of four years.
Heading into the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, a major worry for India’s supporters was who would fill the number four slot and offer solidity between the top-order and the lower-order.
As it turned, the lack of a stable number four came back to haunt the Men in Blue at the worst possible hour during the semifinals against New Zealand.
Four years on, India have not had the same headache and a big reason for that has been the form of Shreyas Iyer, especially in the second half of the league stage of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
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All the talk leading into the match against Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday revolved around Virat Kohli and the possibility of him getting to his 50th ODI ton in his adopted hometown. But when the talisman fell for 51, India still had more than 20 overs still to bat.
It allowed Iyer time to settle in for a relatively long haul and settle in he did.
Combining pre-meditation with orthodoxy, the Mumbai right-hander ensured that India maintained their high scoring rate, the foundation of which was laid by Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill on a warm afternoon at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The most telling feature of Iyer’s performance was his acceleration. He got to his fifty off 48 and the next fifty runs came in his 26 balls, with a single to mid-wicket bringing up his hundred as the capacity crowd at the venue rose in applause.
One of the standout shots from the knock was the slap over cover off Paul van Meekeren’s bowling that went for a six. It was a shot of authority and one which indicated that Iyer was well and truly in the zone.
The innings was not just about fours and sixes but also about Iyer rotating strike and keeping the scoreboard ticking along. While he had hit 10 fours and five sixes en route to the landmark, the other notable aspect to the innings was it contained 49 singles and one double.
This aspect of Iyer’s batting of being able to balance his innings with singles and boundaries has ensured that he always remained ahead of KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan in the pegging order, for the number four slot.
Ahead of Sunday’s fixture, head coach Rahul Dravid was asked about what made Iyer so good at the number four spot and the 51-year-old referred to his temperament and how he has delivered for the side in tough situations in the past.
“He brings temperament,” Dravid said. “You just look at even some of his knocks under pressure, how he’s able to actually bring the best out of himself under those pressure situations. Even in the two years that I’ve been here, I mean, Bangladesh, you know that game, under extreme pressure, who’s the guy who stands up? Ash and Shreyas, guys like that who incredible temperament, incredible strength of mind, and I think that’s, that’s what has held him in really good stead.”
While the situation was far from being tense on Sunday, Iyer proved Dravid right about having a sound temperament with his ability to get over a difficult time at the start of the tournament to score two half-centuries against Sri Lanka and South Africa and then 128 not out against Netherlands.
With his performance in the last three matches, he also showed he is India’s Mr. Reliable at number four and the middle-order ghosts of 2019 had been laid to rest.
Brief scores: India 411 for 4 in 50 overs (Iyer 128*, KL Rahul 102, Rohit 61; De Leede 2-82) vs Netherlands
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