Iyer shows good intent on Ranji return ahead of England Tests

The last time Shreyas Iyer played a first-class match for Mumbai, he was yet to play Test cricket, back in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy. The Iyer that walked out to bat in Mumbai's latest Ranji Trophy match on Friday is a different person. He has played regularly in all three formats for India, and though he was left out of the T20I squad for the ongoing series against Afghanistan, he is the incumbent No. 5 in Tests.

Which is why this game, against Andhra, is significant for Iyer.

He had a tough tour of South Africa, where he scored 31, 6, 0 and 4 not out. The two Tests there were his first in over nine months, part of which he was out because of a back problem that required surgery. The match against Andhra gives him a chance to get into his groove ahead of the home Tests against England starting January 25.

Mumbai were asked to bat on a greenish surface on a sunny morning. The openers added 69 in a steady start before Jay Bista and Ajinkya Rahane, the No. 3, fell off successive balls. Bhupen Lalwani, the other opener, and Suved Parkar, the No. 4, then took Mumbai to lunch, giving Iyer some more time.

He walked to the nets just outside the playing area with batting coach Vinit Indulkar, left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar, and a throwdown specialist in tow. He started slowly, but raised the tempo as time went on, and finished his close-to-25-minute stint with aerial shots in all directions.

When Iyer walked in with Mumbai 130 for 3 in the 43rd over, it did not take him time to get going. He is known to be a quick scorer in the domestic circuit, which his first-class strike rate of 78.48 attests to. He is also known to be an excellent player of spin. He put away two full deliveries from the quicks - a flick through midwicket and a loft over mid-on - to get his boundary count going.

Andhra mixed it up against Iyer by bowling pace from the dressing-room end and spin from the media end. Medium pacers Penmetsa Raju first, and then his replacement Nithish Kumar Reddy - the most impressive Andhra bowler on the day - bowled from around the wicket to test him. But Iyer's feet moved nicely, and he kept out the good length and full balls, with a push to the off side or a flick towards midwicket. He was also ready to take on the short ball and punish it, like he did off Raju to beat long leg to his right in the 56th over.

But nothing perhaps showed that Iyer was switched on and up for the fight like in the 54th over, bowled by Raju. With two fielders deep on the leg side - forward square-leg and long leg - and a backward short-leg in place, he played the perfect pull shot all along the ground for a four. The very next ball was shortish but had just enough width for Iyer to crash it over the covers.

This prompted Andhra to go all-out on the mean bouncer - Iyer's perceived weakness. They had a six-three leg-side field with midwicket, forward square-leg, backward square-leg, long leg, third and point all out on the boundary. There was also a forward short-leg under the lid. That would, however, not prevent Iyer from taking a third four off the over - another pull that sent the ball rolling past backward square-leg - perhaps his best shot of the day. In all, Iyer scored 25 in the 14 balls he faced from Raju, including five fours.

Reddy went on to dismiss him caught behind, after he wafted at a fullish ball angling away from around the stumps. Iyer would trudge back with a run-a-ball 48 against his name. But in only his second domestic red-ball game since his Test debut, he had signalled his intent, and readiness.