'Go for it' - TNCA XI Skipper Sai Kishore wins friendly banter against Shreyas Iyer

On the eve of the Buchi Babu Cricket Tournament 2024 game between Mumbai and TNCA XI (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association), the ravishing batter, Shreyas Iyer, was batting alongside his opponent skipper, Sai Kishore, in the nets. Fascinating enough, in a bid to gain an edge over the willy left-arm spinner, Iyer tried to start a friendly banter.

However, Kishore seemed unfazed at the challenge thrown at him by the Mumbai-based batter and went a notch up by accepting the challenge with great conviction. In the aftermath, the former ended up winning the first encounter of the bat and the ball between them.

"If you keep a long-off fielder from the first over, I will go over him,” Iyer said to Kishore in an attempt of playing mind games.

"Go for it," Kishore darted back with a reply brimming with confidence as per The Hindu.

Notably, during the Buchi Babu game against each other, the TNCA XI Captain deliberately did not place a conventional long-off fielder. Instead, in what turned out to be a cunning move, he outsmarted Iyer by placing the fielder behind him which was rather straightish in an unorthodox fashion on the boundary. Consequently, Shreyas Iyer gave in to the temptation and went for a full-blooded pull shot. To his utter dismay, the ball went straight down to the fielder placed in the short midwicket region. This resulted in Iyer getting dismissed cheaply for just two runs off Sai Kishore's bowling.

Also Read: I feel I am one of the best spinners in the country: Sai Kishore

Sai Kishore foxed Suryakumar with another left-arm bowler as Mumbai in trouble

Furthermore, showing his impeccable street-smart cricketing brain, TNCA XI skipper Sai Kishore had set his eyes on getting the crucial wicket of none other than Mr 360 aka Suryakumar Yadav. Yadav was looking in good touch as he went about his business. He brought out all his unorthodox cricketing shots which included conventional sweeps to reverse sweeps along with inside-out strokeplay.

Sensing that Sky was milking away runs (30 off 38 balls) using angles to good effect. At one stage the dangerous Mumbai batter was scoring with a strike rate of 78.95 to keep the scoreboard ticking. But to stop him from taking away the game, Sai Kishore came up with a masterstroke.

Also Read- Watch: Shreyas Iyer imitates bowling action of Sunil Narine in Buchi Babu 2024 tournament

He brought S. Ajith Ram, the left-arm bowler into the attack who bowled just two overs in the early stage of the match. The change in bowling brought positive results like an alchemist. In a bid to whack the bowler for a boundary with his powerful sweep through the mid-on area, but failed to connect for the desired result as Yadav was sent back to the hut.

“Suryakumar has too many shots. He can do sweeps, reverse sweeps and everything. I concentrated on my length, and it came out well,” Ajith Ram said.

Currently, as the match stands, TNCA are in the box seat as they scored 379 runs in their first innings while Mumbai crumbled under pressure. Notably, their Captain Sarfaraz Khan did not come out to bat despite his side having lost seven wickets in reply.