They were ready to take on the challenge – Shreyas Iyer on lIndian bowlers’ mindset after Indore win
India went 2-1 up in the ongoing T20I series against West Indies as the bowlers came in with instrumental spells to restrict the visitors ahead of the stipulated 224-run mark. After going down while trying to contain the Islanders ahead of a bigger mark, this victory felt like a breath of relief for the Indian captain, Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer, who couldn’t get going with the bat, opened up on India’s 14-run win in Indore. In the preceding battle in Jharkhand, India went down defending 249. Iyer was happy that it didn’t leave a mark on their defence of 223, which was an equally big and scary number. Talking at the post-match presentation, Iyer opened up on the differences from the last game while highlighting how all the cameos came together cumulatively for the Men in Blue.
Explaining the difference between the conditions of the last game and the one in Indore, Iyer said, “Well, it was wonderful, honestly. When the bowlers were up the mark, they were pretty confident in terms of what they want to execute, and the clarity was very much visible when I was interacting with them. So they were decisive in their execution, and I also feel that when I was passing on the ball to them, each and every one, they were ready to take on the challenge, and that's what we want.”
Reflecting on India’s solid start and the overall batting show, Iyer added, “That was a phenomenal start, what we got from Abhishek - those crucial runs in the powerplay. We know what he can offer and then Ishan coming in and taking on the bowlers. He has been simply remarkable in the last couple of months. And then in between also, we never let West Indies take on the charge, even though we kept on losing wickets.”
He continued, “We steadied the ship in the middle order as well. That took us to a commendable total of 223. Even Prince coming and playing that cameo at the end, those were useful runs I felt. And yeah, with West Indies team, I personally feel that you cannot take them lightly because you know there are a lot of game changers in the team, and anyone can win the match. So yeah, we got to stay positive throughout the game and see to it that we are not complacent at any point of time.”
Iyer concluded with a small prediction about the upcoming games in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, stating, “Yes, absolutely. Both of them are high-scoring grounds, but it's important that we stick to our process and the routines which we have been following, and also see to it that we are offensive enough in our approach and the attitude is top-notch.”
