'Coming into Indian team, you have to be flexible': Shreyas Iyer opens up on change in his batting position in 1st T20I
India vs England: Iyer, who usually comes at No 4, batted a position down as the team management decided to promote Rishabh Pant ahead of him.
Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer played a rollicking knock against England in the first T20I on Friday. He scored a 48-ball 67 which helped India post a 124-run total after witnessing a horrible top-order collapse. India’s total wasn’t enough to challenge England as the visitors chased down the target with eight wickets and 33 balls in hand.
Iyer, who usually comes at No 4, batted a position down as the team management decided to promote Rishabh Pant ahead of him. While the wicketkeeper-batsman lost his wicket early, Iyer notched up one of the his career-best innings in the shortest format of the game.
Also read: Sundar, Bairstow engage in heated exchange; umpire Nitin Menon intervenes - WATCH
While addressing the post-match virtual press-conference, Iyer spoke about the change in his batting position, stating that a batsman needs to be flexible and ready to play according to the situation.
“Coming into the Indian team, you have to be flexible with which batting position you will be batting. I haven't made any changes, it is just the mindset, what the team requires and batted according to the situation,” Iyer said.
“It was a challenging situation, we had to keep playing natural game and keep ticking scoreboard irrespective of losing early wickets.”
“I have been in this situation before, been there in IPL, it is not the first time. I knew I will get odd boundaries, and momentum changes if get a partnership and then batters dominate bowlers, so from that point of view, their bowlers bowled well. It was their day and kudos to them,” Iyer said.
Iyer further mentioned that India will continue to play with more freedom but need to focus on executing the plans properly as they look to tick all the boxes in the run-up to the T20 World Cup.
Asked if India will need to step away from this new batting philosophy that Kohli spoke about following the team’s eight-wicket loss in the first T20I, Iyer said, “Definitely, it won't change because if you see the batting line-up we have and the power-hitters down the line, we don't have to change anything, to be honest.”
“We have come with a plan and we have to execute as much as possible because going into the World Cup we need to see to it that we have ticked all the boxes. This is a five-match series, so it is a perfect time that we try different stuff and see what suits us,” he added.
(With PTI Inputs)