Shreyas Iyer: India captain Shreyas Iyer on Sunday praised his bowlers for their clarity and decisiveness, adding that the dry ball helped them stick to their plans while defending 223 in the third T20I against West Indies here at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.
With the bowlers led by Arshdeep Singh’s 3-44 at their best, especially in bowling yorkers in the death overs, India sealed a 14-run win to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. “It was wonderful because the bowlers were pretty confident with what they wanted to execute.
“The clarity was much more visible. They were decisive in their execution and when I was passing the ball to them, each and every bowler was up for the challenge and that’s what you want,” said Shreyas at the conclusion of the game.
The skipper was also full of praise for the batting effort that set up the win, especially Abhishek Sharma’s 69, Ishan Kishan’s 37, and Prince Yadav’s cameo of 13 not out at the end.
“Honestly, that was a phenomenal start. Abhishek doing what he does in the powerplay and Kishan coming in. He’s been great in the last few months. Even Prince playing the cameo in the end, those were crucial runs.
“West Indies, you can never take them lightly. So we had to make sure we never get complacent. Both of them are high-scoring grounds but it’s important we stick to our process and follow our routines and make sure we stay offensive,” added Iyer.
West Indies captain Shai Hope said the bowlers could have done better and that the dew-free conditions had played a part in them ending up at 209/7. “So many things you can put your finger on. But cricket games have small margins. As a winning team, you can pick out defining moments.
“Probably with the ball, we could have executed better and we let a few boundaries through. I believe that the way we came back into the game was quite commendable. From the outset, if you look at that partnership, it was a very dangerous one, but we got some wickets with Roston, and we pulled it back.”
He also admitted the team needed a stronger top three in the batting the order, but did not want to blame one or two players. “We have to find a good opening partnership to lay the platform but can’t point your finger on one or two guys.
“Probably with the ball, we could have executed better and we let a few boundaries through. I believe that the way we came back into the game was quite commendable. From the outset, if you look at that partnership, it was a very dangerous one, but we got some wickets with Roston, and we pulled it back.”
Article Source: IANS
