As he walked out to the middle after the lunch break on Day 1, Shreyas Iyer was seen rolling his arm. The top-order batsman had to double up as a part-time spinner as India A’s K Gowtham had pulled up his hamstring and was unavailable. When Iyer walked out in the second session on Day 2, he did not roll his arm but swung hard, dispatching the first ball he faced for a massive six.
Nathan Lyon, who had just picked up the first wicket of Akhil Herwadkar was stunned. The fellow Australians crowding Iyer too looked in disbelief as the ball sailed over deep mid-wicket. It was not a pre-determined shot as he revealed later. He the saw that mid-on was up and pounced on the opportunity to clear the circle. His execution was perfect and with that shot, he changed the momentum as earlier India A openers were extremely watchful, adding just 14 runs in the first 10 overs.
Opener Herwadkar got off the mark on the 35th ball he faced, but after Iyer’s arrival, India A reached 50 in 16.2 overs. The attacking batsman was not at all overawed by the presence of international stars and continued to express himself. He struck four boundaries and hit two more sixes off Lyon to bring up his half-century in just 44 balls. Priyank Panchal, who played some delightful drives was caught at short leg just at the stroke of Tea. The visitors would have hoped to tighten the screws but Ankit Bawne continued with Iyer as the two scored at over four runs per over, bringing up the half-century stand in 71 balls.
Iyer did not spare O'Keefe either as he stepped out against the left-arm spinner hitting him for two sixes. His aggressive intent riled up the visitors who tried to sledge him but Iyer did not give in to the famous tactic. He said wicket-keeper Matthew Wade and David Warner were taunting him by saying he cannot defend the ball. “There’s a bit of sledging that keeps happening (from) behind and that also keeps playing on your mind. 'This guy doesn’t know how to play defensive stroke. Can’t defend the ball'. So, I was proving them wrong.”
Iyer, who hit a century against Bangladesh in the tour match ahead of the one-off Test, added 52 runs with captain Hardik Pandya before the latter was caught behind by Wade off Jackson Bird. Rishabh Pant then remained not out on three as India A ended the day on 176/4 from 51 overs, trailing the visitors by 293 runs.
The morning session was in contrast as the visitors looked to get as much batting practice as possible. India A’s spin resources were severely depleted on a surface that had become flat. Resuming on 327/5, Mitchell Marsh chose to spend time on the wicket and it was after a long while that he switched gears, hitting four boundaries in 10 balls. Wade too looked comfortable but was out on 64 when he looked to sweep Shahbaz Nadeem. After Ishan Kishan on Day 1, Rishabh Pant donned the wicket-keepers’ gloves on Day 2 and he took simple catch as Nadeem picked his first wicket when Wade got a top edge when attempting a sweep shot. In the second session, Maxwell curbed his aggression and remained not out on 16 as Australia declared their innings on 469/7, which was 33 minutes after the meal break.
Brief scores: Australia 467/7 decl. (Steven Smith 107 retd out, Shaun Marsh 104 retd out, Mitchell Marsh 75, Navdeep Saini 2/42) vs India A 176/4 (Shreyas Iyer 85*, Priyank Panchal 22, Ankit Bawne 25; Jackson Bird 2/15) trail by 293 runs.
