4 dismissals, 2.75 average: Shreyas Iyer needs to put ‘ego in pocket’ after ‘misreading’ Josh Hazlewood in Qualifier 1, says Tom Moody

Attempting a rash waft across the line off his third delivery, Iyer feathered an edge off Hazlewood to wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma as he fell for 2 off 3 balls, leaving his side in a precarious situation at 30 for three before the entire line-up unravelled in quick time. Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody slammed Iyer for misreading the game situation and questioned his tactics while fronting Hazlewood who had previously dismissed thrice in the format.

“The first ball he played and missed – the perfect line that you’d expect Hazlewood to bowl. He sort of played at it, but didn’t really want to play at it. And then, that third ball he got out. To me, he totally misread the game situation and his own situation. Yes, he would be aware that Hazlewood has had him a few times in the past. He would know the exact numbers.” the former Punjab coach said in an ESPNcricinfo interaction.

Moody lamented that Iyer should have countered the Hazlewood threat cautiously. Iyer now averages an appalling 2.75 in 22 balls he has faced off Hazlewood in T20s, with the Aussie seamer dismissing him four times while conceding only 11 runs.

“At times, you need to put your ego in your pocket and just move forward. To me that was the perfect example of not reading the situation – trying to overcome something that has been a darkness in the past instead of just swallowing your pride and just moving on by just accumulating. You only had to see Hazlewood out. It was a simple thing – see him out and look to dissect the rest of their attack.”

“Not a day to forget, but got to go back to the drawing board. We lost a lot of wickets. There’s a lot to go back and study on,” Iyer said reflecting on the eventual eight-wicket defeat.

PBKS will next face the winner of the Gujarat Titans-Mumbai Indians Eliminator match in the Qualifier 2 contest in Ahmedabad on Sunday.