Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim has showered praise on Shreyas Iyer’s knock after the opening T20I between India and England was called off due to rain. Iyer, who returned with scores of 3 and 10 in the two T20Is against Ireland, scored a captain’s knock of 68 runs off 47 balls in the opening game against England at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.
The Indian skipper took his time in the initial phase of the innings as the visitors lost two early wickets of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan. Furthermore, Abhishek Sharma was going at the rate of knots at the other end, which allowed Iyer to take his time.
Karim said this knock will give Iyer a lot of confidence after he had a mundane series against Ireland.
“It will be a mix of both. No matter how much we talk, there was pressure on Shreyas Iyer. He had replaced a World Cup champion team’s captain, and in the first two matches, that too against Ireland, India lost very unexpectedly, and he hadn’t scored runs. So it was an extremely crucial knock. This will reinforce his belief that he is ready for international cricket,” Saba Karim said on JioStar.
“The biggest thing is that this will earn him a lot of respect in the dressing room. That’s extremely necessary for a young captain. Many times you get consumed a lot with captaincy, but in the end, you have been kept in the team for your batting. So you need to pay attention to that, which we got to see,” he added.
On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan highlighted that Iyer became the first Indian T20I skipper to score a fifty in English conditions.
“Shreyas Iyer has become the first Indian T20I captain to score a half-century on English soil. This hadn’t happened to date. It means this will be extremely significant for Shreyas. Once such a stat reaches a player, it increases their confidence, especially as this knock came when two wickets had fallen early,” he said.
Pathan concurred with Karim that Iyer scoring a fifty in difficult conditions would help him earn respect in the dressing room.
