Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan praised the alliance between Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the first T20I against New Zealand, which the visitors won by four wickets at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Thursday.
Patel was promoted to number six in the batting order when India was under the cosh at 122-4 in the run chase of 226. The left-hander played a crucial cameo of 14-ball 24 and added 45 runs off 24 balls with captain Shreyas Iyer, to get India’s run-chase back on track.
Pathan praised Shreyas Iyer’s calmness in the run chase after the Indian captain scored 42 runs off 28 balls.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “When Shreyas Iyer had a partnership with Axar Patel, there was never a moment when you felt that the Indian team was not in control. They remained in control throughout the chase. Captain Shreyas Iyer is excellent in a chase. I believe he brings a lot of calmness to the chase. That partnership was very crucial and played a major role in taking the team closer to the target.”
Pathan highlighted that India’s team management is backing batting depth for matches like these. Nitish Kumar Reddy batted at number eight and Pathan noted that the team management was calm when Reddy joined forces with Naman Dhir.
He added, “People will talk a lot about the combination, and they already are. They will say that India did not play a spinner, Varun Chakaravarthy or Kuldeep Yadav. But you must have noticed towards the end that India needed 16 runs off 10 balls. When Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat at number eight, the Indian camp was calm. They knew that this was exactly why they had batting depth until number eight.”
On the other hand, the former swing bowler praised Naman Dhir for scoring an unbeaten knock of 42 runs off just 15 balls. Dhir smashed five fours and two sixes as he batted at the top of his game.
“What a special player Naman Dhir is! He has only just arrived in international cricket, and the way he has showcased his ability to bat at different positions has been impressive. We have seen him in domestic cricket and in the league as well. But batting down the order here is not that easy, and the calmness with which he scored those unbeaten runs was remarkable.
“You know, when he was batting, it hardly seemed like he was ever losing control. Scoring 42 runs off 15 balls was an outstanding effort. And the best part was that a player tends to get a little nervous under pressure, but he wasn’t getting flustered at all. He was absolutely calm, and that quality will take him a long way,” he added.
The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on Saturday.
