India's former batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, pointed out subtle changes Shreyas Iyer adapted to combat his vulnerability towards short balls. Earlier, Shreyas Iyer visibly struggled with short-pitched balls. Even in a match, England's coach Brendon McCullum once directed the bowlers from the dressing room, to give short balls. However, the revamped Shreyas Iyer, who came back after a contract snub, seemed to dominate the short ball irrespective of the speed and the bowler bowling. Iyer finished as the second-highest run scorer in the three-match series, amassing 181 runs at an average of 60.33 and a strike rate of 123.12, including two half-centuries. The right-handed batter kicked off the series with a blistering 59 off 36 balls, featuring nine boundaries and two sixes. He followed that with a solid 44-run contribution in the second ODI, assisting India in chasing down a challenging total of 305. After his impressive showing against England, Sanjay Bangar analyzed Iyer's approach to countering his vulnerability to short-pitched deliveries, highlighting how the batter now deals with them from further inside the crease. Speaking on the Star Sports, the former batting coach explained, “Try and hit every short ball or give a response on every ball. Earlier, we saw that whenever he used to face short ball, he would back out and try and play it through the off-side. However, he’s now avoiding it as we’ve seen in the entire series that he didn’t attempt that shot. What does that mean that? He’s now decided to not shift towards the leg side and instead goes deep in his crease. Read aslo: Gambhir Explains Varun Chakravarthy’s Inclusion in Champions Trophy Bangar also praised Iyer's self-belief, noting how he adapts to short balls by defending or taking singles, while maintaining his confidence and composure. His body language reflects his strong mental game. He added, “If he isn’t able to play that shot, he would defend it and take a single. I feel it’s a good game plan that he’s come up with. The best thing about him is that he stays in his zone, having seen him from up close. He isn’t a submissive type of a guy, he keeps his self-belief intact. It can also be seen in his body language, the way he carries himself." Gambhir's clarification on Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Iyer continued his red-hot form, playing another brilliant knock of 78 runs off 64 balls in the third ODI against England. His innings was marked by eight boundaries and two sixes. Iyer looked in excellent touch from the outset, getting off the mark with a boundary and building momentum with aggressive strokeplay. He took on the bowlers in the middle overs, especially Gus Atkinson and Saqib Mahmood. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir opened up regarding Shreyas' shocking remark of playing him in the first ODI as a replacement for injured Virat Kohli. After the match, Gambhir said, “We wanted to give Yashasvi a go in the first game and see what he can bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. So we wanted to see what kind of innings he played. You can’t judge someone by one innings, but we always knew that Shreyas is going to be an important player for us. What he’s done at No. 4… whether at the (50-over) World Cup, he’s just an important player."