Will keep attacking even if we lose wickets: Iyer
VISAKHAPATNAM: From the 211 at Feroz Shah Kotla to the 148 at Barabati, India are yet to find their batting sweet spot but their intent can’t be questioned. At least that’s what Shreyas Iyer is claiming. Trailing 0-2 in the fivematch series against South Africa, India may look in urgent need of a batting anchor in the third T20I here on Tuesday but Iyer feels they need not change their approach considering the bigger context of preparing for the T20 World Cup.
“We have planned to keep going no matter what happens,” Iyer said after their four-wicket loss in Cuttack on Sunday. “Even if we keep losing wickets, it’s our game plan and in the future too, we will go in with the same mindset. We will back ourselves and back our instincts.” In the absence of the senior trio of
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul whose T20 strike rates aren’t exactly flattering, the onus is on the next generation of Iplbred batters to validate a different approach to scoring.
“Our main aim is the World Cup, so we have to see to it that we plan towards it,” said Iyer. “So we have that sort of mindset where we are completely free and not thinking about anything else. These are the actual games where we can practise what we were lacking. That’s what we keep discussing in the team meeting as well. No matter whatever plans we discuss, we have to execute those. Even if we fail, we will learn from that and grow as a player and grow as a team. So that’s more important till we reach Australia.”
Easier said than done when you look at the immediate form of some of the senior batters— Rishabh Pant hasn’t scored a fifty (including in the IPL) since
February, Iyer’s series strike rate is 122.58 and even Dinesh Karthik has looked sedate till he hit those two sixes in the last over of the Cuttack innings.
Till all the batters got off to a good start, it didn’t affect the innings, like in Delhi. But, on a two-paced pitch in Cuttack, India struggled to build any momentum after Ishan Kishan was dismissed just after the power play.
“I feel if something we could have done on this wicket is playing until 11 to 15 overs,” Iyer said. “But at the same time you need to keep the scoreboard ticking also. If I look back, I think 160 could have been a really good score on the board to put them under a little bit of pressure but we were around 12 runs short.”
That Karthik was on 17 off 18 at one time tells you how challenging batting was on the Cuttack pitch but he also probably succumbed to the pressure of building the innings instead of providing it a finishing touch. That’s what happens when you walk in with the score reading 98/5 in the 14th over instead of, say, 130/4 in the 17th over. This is where India need their top order to bat a tad longer so that finishers like Karthik come in with a free mind.
Iyer, however, said India are preparing for all eventualities and Cuttack provided one such scenario. “We had seven overs left and Axar is someone who can take singles. And we didn’t require someone to come in and start hitting from ball one at that point of time. Even DK (Karthik) can do that obviously but DK has been a really good asset for us after 15 overs where he can come and straightaway slog the ball. Even he found it difficult to start well today. Obviously, the wicket played a huge role in today’s game, but we will be using this strategy in the next games as well.”