IND vs SA, 2nd T20I: Shreyas Iyer made a big statement after consecutive defeats
India lost both their opening matches against South Africa in the five-match T20I series. Team India rested their key players like skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and M Shami while some players like Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav suffered injuries before the series. This can be called the second class Indian side. The Indian team is trying new combinations in the management series. Initiating the back-to-back defeats against South Africa, Shreyas Iyer said that the team is prioritizing the 2022 T20 World Cup over bilateral T20Is.
South Africa won the second T20I by 4 wickets and are now 2-0 up in the five-match series.
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“Our main objective is obviously the World Cup, so we have to see that we are planning for it. So we have that kind of mindset where we are completely independent and not thinking about anything else. These are the real games where we can practice what we lacked in the past. That’s what we keep discussing in team meetings as well. No matter what, whatever plans we discuss in team meetings, we have to Those have to be implemented. Even if we fail, we will learn from it and grow as a player and grow as a team. So it is important till we reach Australia.”
“We have made a plan that no matter what happens, we will keep going,” Iyer said. “Even if we keep losing wickets, that is our game plan and in future also we will go with the same mindset. We will support ourselves and support our instincts.
Talking about the conditions of the pitch where the Indian batsmen were struggling as they were not able to score more than 150, Shreyas said: “I think if we could have done something on this wicket then 11 Could have played for 15 overs. But at the same time you need to stick to the scoreboard as well. If I look back, I think 160 could have been a really good score on the board to put them under a bit of pressure But we were almost 12 runs short.”
Dinesh Karthik played his first T20 match in Delhi in the last match of three years, but he did not get much time in between. But on Sunday, Karthik had six overs to make a mark and did not disappoint the packed crowd in Cuttack. He had to spend his time with wickets falling and scored 8 runs in 14 balls in the last two overs. In the last two, he smashed 30* for 21 with the help of two sixes and two fours to take India to a total fighting score of 148/6.
Throwing more light on Karthik’s role, Shreyas said: “It’s definitely something we’ve strategized in the past as well. We had seven overs left and Axar Patel is the one who can take a single, rotate the strike. And we did. At that point nobody needed to come in and start hitting with the first ball. Even DK [Karthik] Obviously can do that but DK has been a really good asset for us after 15 overs where he can come in and slow the ball straight. Even today they had trouble getting off to a good start. Obviously, the wicket played a big role in today’s match, but we will use the same strategy in the next matches as well.”
Now the third T20 match between India and South Africa will be held in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.