Tom Moody, a former Australian cricketer and respected commentator, criticised Shreyas Iyer’s attitude when batting against Josh Hazlewood in Qualifier 1 of the 2018 Indian Premier League between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Iyer has a poor record against Hazlewood in T20s.
Moody believed Shreyas Iyer ‘completely misjudged the game context and his personal situation’ while facing the Australian speedster.
“The first ball he played and missed was the exact line you’d anticipate Hazlewood to bowl. He tried it, but he didn’t really want to. Then he got the third ball out. To me, he misinterpreted both the game situation and his own circumstances. Yes, he is aware that Hazlewood has had him several times before. He’d know the exact figures.” While speaking with, we discussed Moody.
Moody, who coached the Punjab-based team from 2008 to 2010, believes Iyer should have tried to negate Hazlewood’s threat rather than taking him on.
“At times, you have to put your ego in your pocket and simply move forward. To me, that was the epitome of not reading the situation – attempting to conquer something that had previously been a source of darkness rather than swallowing your pride and simply accumulating. You only had to see Hazlewood leave. It was simple: see him out and try to analyse the rest of their attack,” he explained.
Iyer was dismissed after a wild hoick across the line to Hazlewood’s good length delivery. Jitesh Sharma pouched the heavy edge, forcing Iyer to walk back for two out of three. This was Hazlewood’s fourth T20 victory in 22 deliveries against Iyer.
PBKS will face the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Sunday, June 1. They will like to put on a much better performance after losing by eight wickets against RCB on Thursday, May 29.
India
