Shreyas Iyer top-scored with 67 for India as they lost the first T20I against England at the Narendra Modi stadium. Iyyer scored much-needed runs after India were reduced to 22 for 3 inside the powerplay with Indian skipper Virat Kohli dismissed for a duck. Iyer with Rishabh Pant (21) and then with Hardik Pandya (19) took the Indian score to 124/7.
Shreyas Iyer batted at number five in the first T20I, not at his familiar position of number four. India’s total wasn’t enough to challenge England as the visitors chased down the target with eight wickets and 33 balls in hand. This happened after yet another Indian top-order collapse. Iyer spoke about batting at a different position in this game.
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You Have To Be Flexible: Shreyas Iyer
“Coming into the Indian team, you have to be flexible with which batting position you will be batting. I haven’t made any changes, it is just the mindset, what the team requires and batted according to the situation,” Iyer said.
Shreyas Iyer further mentioned that India will continue to play with more freedom but need to focus on executing the plans properly as they look to tick all the boxes in the run-up to the T20 World Cup.
“We have come with a plan and we have to execute as much as possible because going into the World Cup we need to see to it that we have ticked all the boxes. This is a five-match series, so it is a perfect time that we try different stuff and see what suits us,” he added.
The Indian batsmen had no answers to the raw pace from the England bowlers. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood cranked it up. Archer took three wickets while all other pacers took one each.
India were ultra-aggressive with their batting approach which backfired badly and they ended up scoring a below-par total. Both teams meet again on Sunday for the second T20I at the Narendra Modi stadium which will host all the remaining four games.
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