WATCH: England coach McCullum sends short-ball signal to bowlers, plots Iyer's dismissal in 5th Test

Shreyas Iyer's struggles against the short ball were left exposed once again during India's second innings of the ongoing rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. Iyer looked in fine touch but was dismissed cheaply on 19 off 26 balls by England pacer Matty Potts while trying to put away a short ball. Short balls have often troubled the right-hander, who has worked extensively on his weakness. However, it came back to haunt him once again in Edgbaston on Day 4 of the Test match on Monday (July 04).

Iyer's technique against short balls has been questioned several times by experts and former cricketers in the past. There is a chink in his armour and there is no one who knows it better than Brendon McCullum, the current head coach of the England Test team. McCullum worked with Iyer during IPL 2022 as the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) while the Indian batter was leading the side.

Having observed him closely in the nets and matches, McCullum was well aware of Iyer's weakness - the short ball and immediately sent a signal to hisbowlers to use the ploy against him during India's second innings on Monday. McCullum was spotted signalling the England players to use the short-ball tactic when Iyer was batting in the middle.

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His advice worked in the hosts' favour as Iyer was caught by James Anderson on 19 against Potts in the 60th over after a pull shot which landed straight into the fielder's hands. The pictures of McCullum's short-ball signal to England players went viral on social media after he successfully plotted Iyer's dismissal from the dressing room.

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India managed to post 245 runs on the board in their second innings and extended their lead to 377 runs with the help of brilliant half-centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara (66) and Rishabh Pant (57). The visitors will be hoping to bundle out the hosts quickly in their second innings to win the final fifth Test and clinch the five-match series.

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The ongoing 5th Test was originally scheduled to be played during India's tour of England last year but had to be postponed due to COVID-19. The fate of the five-match series last year will be decided on Tuesday (July 05) as India stand just one step away from creating history. If India win or draw the Edgbaston Test, it will be their first Test series win on English soil since 2007.