Indian batter Shreyas Iyer showered praise on Virat Kohli after the latter scored a match-winning knock in the much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.
Kohli scored an unbeaten knock of 100 runs in the run-chase of 242 runs to help his team register a six-wicket win. The 36-year-old also completed 14000 ODI runs and became the third batter after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara in the elite club. Iyer, on the other hand, also scored a vital knock of 56 runs and he added 114 runs with Kohli.
The Mumbai batter said he never feels Kohli is struggling for runs as he is batting beautifully in the nets.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Iyer said, “I remember yesterday he had come almost an hour before us for the practice session. He played a few balls … he looked as crisp as he looks all the time. It’s just the mindset that he possesses over the years. He’s always hungry for runs. So, I never feel that he’s struggling for runs, to be honest.”
India registered a comprehensive win with 45 balls to spare but Iyer reckons they could have won a bit earlier.
“I think we could have won a bit earlier, could have been a convincing win based on how the wicket was playing. It was initially coming on pretty well with the new ball and after that it was difficult to score runs when the ball got a bit old. But if we would have played more aggressively we would have won a bit earlier I felt,” said Iyer.
“They bowled tremendously, especially in the middle phase where the ball was turning. I think everyone played a crucial role in this victory. Any victory against Pakistan is sweet because it’s always competitive and it’s a challenge and there’s a lot of external pressure. It was a lot of fun. It was my third game against Pakistan. It was fun.”
India will next take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 2nd March.
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