“I think we could have won a bit earlier. It would have been a convincing win.”
There was almost no stage in their chase of 242 in which India appeared troubled, and almost no stage in the first innings in which Pakistan appeared capable of getting to a score that would test India.
“But if we could have played more aggressively, we could have won a bit earlier,” Iyer said. He’d hit 56 off 67 balls.
Iyer had some good things to say. “I think Abrar bowled brilliantly. It was important and crucial for me to play out that spell and rotate the strike at the same time. It took some time and then once my eyes were set, I thought that sweep and reverse sweep would have been a great option to put them on the back foot. And I think that worked pretty well for me.
“It wasn’t easy to take charge against Abrar. In that particular phase, it was important to take singles as much as possible and take the team to the end. Once we reach 30 or 40 runs, it is easy to charge on from there.”
One of the things that the experts noted about Iyer’s innings against Pakistan was that he didn’t seem to find handling short deliveries too difficult.
“It’s important to attack, but it’s not easy to go in and straightaway start smashing the ball. You need to see the pace of the wicket, and how it’s coming on to the bat. If you show that intent every ball, it’s difficult for a batsman, to be honest”
Shreyas Iyer
This is the second match India have played in Dubai in this Champions Trophy, though this was a different strip from the one they had faced Bangladesh on. And the bowlers who took pace off the ball complicated Iyer’s progress.
“As we know, even in the previous game we played over here, the wicket is a bit slow,” he said. “It’s spinner-friendly, of course. The amalgamation of all their bowlers and the experience they possess brings a lot of clarity to their bowling.”
India were chasing a modest target, but still, Iyer’s start had been somewhat slow – he made 12 off the first 28 balls he faced.
“It’s important to attack, but it’s not easy to go in and straightaway start smashing the ball,” he said. “You need to see the pace of the wicket, and how it’s coming on to the bat. If you show that intent every ball, it’s difficult for a batsman, to be honest.
“It’s better to take some time, see how it’s coming to you, and let the ball do the talking.”
