Ahmedabad: India batter Shreyas Iyer said the conditions while batting in the first innings of the third ODI against the West Indies weren’t easy as the ball was seaming and swinging. Walking in to bat when India had lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in quick succession, Iyer top-scored with a solid 80 and shared a 110-run stand with Rishabh Pant as India posted 265 in their 50 overs.
“It was not at all easy to bat. When I went in, the ball was seaming, it was swinging, so Shikhar Dhawan and I decided to play close to the body as much as possible and punish the loose balls. That’s what happened, they weren’t sticking to one line so we had an advantage,” said Iyer in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters.
Asked about making adjustments as per the nature of the pitch, Iyer explained, “50 overs is a long format, you need to give yourself a little bit of time at the start and later on you can cover it up. It was two-paced, but there was extra bounce on it because I was missing my cut shots. It was two-paced, it was coming really nice onto the bat and it was quick as well. The bowlers were hitting hard lengths, definitely, they had come with a plan.”
At one point, with some scintillating shots, Iyer looked set to reach the three-figure mark. But he got out in a bid to take on leg-spinner Hayden Walsh and gave a simple catch to long-off in the 38th over. Expressing disappointment over his manner of dismissal, Iyer vowed to learn a lesson from it.
“To be honest, I played a very bad shot in that situation. I had 15 overs left. I was really disappointed with the shot I played and something to think on. I had brief chats with coaches and also the teammates, something to learn from this.”
Iyer, who missed the first two ODIs due to a Covid-19 positive test, felt 265 is a good total after keeping the first ten overs of India’s innings in mind. “It’s a really good total on this wicket considering the start we got. It’s a fight-able total, I am really satisfied with the total. We got to bowl really well to defend this total, it’s going to be a great fight.”
The 27-year-old signed off by saying he can bowl a few overs of part-time leg-spin if needed. “If the situation demands and the skipper thinks that I need to rotate my arm for a few overs, I am up for it, I have the confidence to bowl a few.”
