India T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer on Tuesday said a shaky start to his captaincy stint was a “tough pill to swallow” but underlined the need to have an “equilibrium”, after his side sealed a 2-0 series win over Afghanistan. Iyer, who took over from Suryakumar Yadav after India became T20 world champions for a record third time in March this year, suffered away series defeats to Ireland (0-2) and England (1-4) before winning his maiden series as captain. Iyer also hinted that India could utilise some of their bench strength in the third T20I on Thursday.
India crushed Afghanistan by seven wickets here on Tuesday to take an unassailable lead in the three-match affair.
“Yes, certainly. It was a tough pill to swallow at the start, but the journey is always going to be a rollercoaster,” Iyer told the broadcaster when asked about his start as India’s T20I skipper.
“You have to be in equilibrium as much as possible and see to it that you enjoy the moment and not think much about what has happened in the past. I have said it in my previous interviews as well; the more you embrace the situation, the better it gets,” he added.
Sanju Samson’s explosive 57 off 22 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s three-wicket haul powered India to a commanding win in the second T20I.
Iyer said India’s performance in the opening T20I demanded another comprehensive win, which his side was able to register in the second match.
“Looking at the last match and coming into this one, we were demanding a comprehensive win and today was a good one,” Iyer said.
The Indian skipper said his side would look to try different combinations in the final T20I, which means players like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi could get a go.
“Definitely, we want all of them to get used to the wicket and get some practice, so it will be a good opportunity to give a chance to the guys sitting out,” Iyer expressed.
Meanwhile, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who returned 3-0-24-3, said he is feeling comfortable with the pace he has been able to generate.
“(The body) feels good. Right now, I feel at a good level. We’ve done some great work at the COE and I feel good. I always wanted to be a greatest all-rounder and for that I needed that extra pace, which I am getting,” he said.
“It’s all about believing in yourself and it’s a funny game. Anything can change at any moment,” he said.
Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran, meanwhile, felt his side lacked the firepower in the powerplay and Indian bowlers bowled well.
“We struggled a lot again. We didn’t get what we wanted. As a group we thought about how to improve, the approach. We didn’t play well in the powerplay and they put pressure on us. Credit to their bowlers. We will look to improve in that,” he said.
Zadran said they need to apply themselves to put up big scores on the board. “We thought about how to improve the 150-160 score to 200-plus. We have to bring that intent to the team. We didn’t apply that. If we want to beat the biggest teams on the international stage, we have to improve on that.” “But this is the second game we’ve got this year so with more games we will improve,” he added. PTI SSC SSC DDV
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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