After India’s crushing win over Sri Lanka on Thursday, November 2, skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Shreyas Iyer were spotted engaging with fans and gifting their shoes to some of the children present at the Wankhede stadium.
The enthusiasm for cricketers in India is amazing, and the fans were naturally thrilled to see Rohit and Shreyas Iyer come closer to them. In a video that went viral on social media, both the cricketers could be seen patiently giving their shoes to kids as the crowd cheered them on.
Here’s the link to the video:
Rohit Sharma & Shreyas Iyer gifting shoes to kids post #IndvsSL match at Wankhede stadium
Thanks @allaboutcric_ for your timely updates pic.twitter.com/wv0E6fzkjq— Naishav Mehta (@MehtaNaishav) November 2, 2023
Shreyas Iyer on ‘short ball’ query in press conference
When a reporter queried Shreyas Iyer about his problems with the short ball during the post-match news conference, he seemed irritated. The right-hander said that it was the reporters that made it seem larger than it was.
Here’s what he said in response:
“We as players, we are bound to get out on any sort of deliveries. You guys have created that mahaul [atmosphere] outside that ‘he can’t play a short ball’, and I feel that people are picking that up every now and then and it plays on your [the media’s] mind regularly, and you keep working on that.”
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer further claimed that having grown up playing at the Wankhede Stadium where the ball has a decent enough bounce, he believes he can face fast-paced deliveries from the bowlers and take them on by attempting to score from those deliveries. He added:
“Sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not, and majority of the times it hasn’t worked for me, maybe that’s the reason you think it’s a problem for me, but in my mind I know there’s no problem.”
Shreyas Iyer
India will now meet South Africa in their last league stage game of the 2023 World Cup on Sunday, November 5, at the legendary Eden Gardens in Kolkata.