Former Indian wicket keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has opined that the century against the West Indies was a crucial knock for Shreyas Iyer. The Indian captain scored a stunning knock of 102 runs off just 43 balls with the help of 10 fours and six sixes in the run-chase of 172 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, on Tuesday.
Since taking over the captaincy reins, Iyer had not played an authoritative knock and questions were raised about his below-par strike rate. However, the right-hander answered his critics in style, scoring his runs at a strike rate of 237.21.
Karthik said this knock will add a shot in the arm for Shreyas Iyer.
“At the Asian Games, there were tough pitches, I don’t think he got going there. But this is a very important knock for him. I don’t rate this West Indies bowling attack too high, because I feel this is too dependent on just one or two bowlers. But what I would not take away from Shreyas Iyer is the intent with which he batted, the kind of shots that he played, aggressive but also, in a way, making a statement on how he wants his team to play,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“He needed this innings, and he had said in his interview prior to the series that if there is one thing that he wants from his team is to play attacking cricket. When he gets a 100 like this, the rest of the team can follow,” he added.
Karthik said this century would mean a lot to Iyer as he had got off to a scratchy start as a T20I leader against Ireland and England.
“I think this innings will mean quite a bit to him, because from the time he’s been handed over the captaincy, I don’t think he’s scored as many runs as we are used to seeing Shreyas Iyer scoring runs. I know that the Ireland series did not start off well for him. In England, he was scratchy, he got runs, but not to the potential that we know. It was not something that was amazing in terms of strike rate or pushing it,” Dinesh Karthik said.
The second T20I between India and the West Indies will be played at Ranchi on Friday.
