Shreyas Iyer's fear of short ball exploited by Umesh Yadav as lacklustre run continues in Ranji Trophy final

Shreyas Iyer's poor run of form in the red-ball format of the game continued on Sunday as the Mumbai batter was dismissed for just seven runs in 15 deliveries in the Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. Iyer was undone by his fear of short ball as veteran India fast bowler Umesh Yadav dismissed him in the opening session of Day 1 of the summit clash.

The strategy from Umesh was pretty evident from his first delivery against Iyer in the 28th over of the match. All four deliveries in the lead up to the dismissal were short of length, the variety that got him out cheaply in the Ranji Trophy semifinal as well against Tamil Nadu last week.

Iyer left the first two deliveries which shaped away and defended the next two which were on the stumps, but the weakness against the delivery type left going on in his head, as evident from his stance in the fifth ball of that over. Umesh, this time, got the ball to shape away, and Iyer, who had his feet stuck in on man's land, guided it straight to Karun Nair stationed at slip.

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Iyer was dismissed for just 7 runs after facing 15 balls as Umesh picked his first wicket to send Mumbai four down for just 99 runs before lunch.

The India middle-order batter has now managed just 10 runs in his last two innings since making a return to the Ranji Trophy after not being considered for the BCCI's annual retainers for the 2023/24 season. Iyer faced BCCI's wrath after disregarding their repeated orders of not prioritising IPL over domestic cricket.

Iyer was earlier dropped from the Indian Test side after the second match against England last month after which he was spotted in Kolkata Knight Riders' camp in Mumbai reportedly nursing back from a back injury. The development left BCCI officials irked as he was declared fit by the NCA to participate in Mumbai's quarterfinal game. But Iyer had skipped the match before making himself available for selection for the semis.