His counter-attack knock puts India in the driver’s seat in the second Test against Sri Lanka and Shreyas Iyer claimed hitting with a defensive mindset doesn’t help on difficult wickets like the M Chinnaswamy track. Iyer’s combative 92 under pressure led India to 252 after the team struggled 126 for five. Batting fearlessly, Iyer charged the wicket down quite often, which he felt was the best strategy for nullifying the spin. “My plan when I got started was to reduce the spin (negate turn), so I decided to get out,” Iyer told media after opening day.
“While standing on the middle stump I sawed across the wicket so I could cover the spin and take a single in the middle wicket area and I’m confident when I do. When you step out you play with the ghost of the bowler and spoil his line and length,” he explained his strategy.
Iyer said it’s not his style to let negativity affect hitting, so he supported his attacking instinct.
“The players who defended the ball had a lot of chance of nicking. The ball stayed low and there was a variable bounce on the wicket. You can’t play negative on this wicket, just keep defending the ball.”
“You have to have that positive intention when you step out on the field and you know the wicket isn’t that great and clearly bowler-friendly, so my thinking was to play every ball on its merits and make sure I get runs on every ball.”
He missed his second Test century, but he doesn’t regret it. Looking at the bigger picture, his knock helped the team.
“I’m disappointed I missed a hundred, but if you see it from the team’s perspective, we’ve reached a very combative total, which is 250, especially at this wicket. And seriously, I have no regrets. If I play on the field I play for the team, I don’t play for myself.
“The results are important to me and my teammates, skipper, coaches, they have all supported me a lot and that’s what really matters. And I felt that fifty was the same as a century, because celebrating that I was celebrating it for me felt like a century,” he said. said.
Iyer also said it wasn’t easy to prepare for such wickets that offer hep to spinners from day one.
“In Bombay (Mumbai) the bounce is with pace, but here it kind of stopped. It was variable and you can’t really prepare for such wickets. you have to have a good day and you have to see that you are not thinking of “Get out. Once you let that thought in, you can’t move your legs or hands.” Iyer also didn’t mind that the first day of a test match was heavily in favor of the spinners.
“From a championship point of view, of course you want to win every game and that cannot be achieved unless you put in such challenging wickets.
“And I’m really glad there are challenges in every format and wicket you play on these days. It’s nice to explore such wickets and perform at the highest level,” he signed off.
Siraj released from Team India bubble
promoted
Pacer Mohammed Siraj has been released from the Indian test team bio bubble, allowing him to spend a few extra days with his family in Hyderabad before joining his RCB teammates in Mumbai for the next edition of IPL.
Obviously, the second Test, which is expected to end in three days, will allow all Team India players to go home for a few extra days before joining their respective franchises.
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