Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has showered praise on Shreyas Iyer after India registered an eight-wicket win against the West Indies in the opening T20I at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Tuesday. Iyer scored a blistering knock of 102 runs off just 43 balls as he batted at the top of his game in the run-chase of 172.
The right-hander was able to hit the ground running and Ashwin praised the Indian captain for turning the tide as a leader after a slow start on the UK tour, where India lost six games.
Iyer completed his fifty off just 28 balls and then changed gears as he raced from 50 to 100 off just 14 balls. This is Iyer’s maiden T20I century, which would give him a lot of confidence. The Indian skipper was awarded Player of the Match for his superb batting performance.
Ashwin highlighted that Ishan Kishan played the anchor role and guided his skipper towards the century.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Shreyas Iyer had not won a single game in his first seven games as captain, but now the world has turned around. He has not lost a single game in the last 10 games. There will be more challenges, but Shreyas is truly back. He has just scored a hundred. It looks like Ishan Kishan anchored things from the other end and took Shreyas Iyer towards his century.”
The former Tamil Nadu spinner praised Iyer for his shot selection, particularly against Akeal Hosein over the cover region.
He added, “The way Shreyas Iyer batted against Akeal Hosein, once the ball got old, he hit him over extra cover off the back foot twice. Off the back foot over extra cover. I think anyone who has played cricket, no matter how much, would know that it is not easy to hit a left-arm spinner over extra cover off the back foot.”
On the other hand, Ashwin praised Kuldeep Yadav for making a good comeback after conceding 24 runs in his first two overs. Yadav eventually finished with impressive figures of 2-33 in his four overs.
Ashwin concluded, “Even today, he proved to be very expensive in his first two overs, but after that, he made a good comeback. Rutherford got a four off the inside edge, did not pick Kuldeep’s googly, but still showed enough courage to keep tossing it up and spinning the ball.”
The second T20I between India and the West Indies will be played at Ranchi on Friday.
