Chester-le-Street [UK], June 30 (ANI): Ahead of the first T20I against England, Indian T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer expressed the need to balance between providing opportunities and building security for senior players, while also admitting that the series whitewash against Ireland was “depressing”.
After a rare set-back in the form of a 0-2 whitewash series loss to Ireland, Iyer-led world champions India will start the five-match England challenge at Chester-le-Street here from Tuesday onwards.
Speaking ahead of the match in the presser about the new challenge, he said, “Great opportunity, it is going to be challenging. Definitely, the last series did not go according to our plan. But this series, everyone is in good mind space, and we are definitely looking forward to have an intense game, and great mindset is involved within each other, the group. So, the calmer we are in the pressure situation, it is going to be beneficial for us.”
On the message towards providing opportunity and security to all, he said, “We have to build that opportunity and security, so that each individual has confidence going forward into the tournaments. And, the people who have won the last World Cup definitely have an idea of how to play T20, and continuously, they have been the main pillars of that format. So, it’s very important to back them.”
Shreyas said that while the loss to Ireland was not “embarrassing”, rather a “depressing” result, pointing out the host’s great ideas about the dimensions of the ground, which he said was a bit “squarish”. He also said that Team India is better aware of the conditions and challenges in England and looks forward to an intense challenge.
“It was not embarrassing (loss to Ireland), but it was depressing for us, because we definitely didn’t expect Ireland to play that well. They outplayed us in every department; they had brilliant ideas about the dimensions of the ground, and we fell short in terms of analysing and planning the ground and the dimensions, and how the wicket would be played. So, kudos to them, credit to them, but we learnt a lot from that series,” Iyer said
But the five-match England series is a “completely new chapter,” he said.
“A couple of us have played in England before, and we know the conditions, we know the ideas, we know the dimensions over here. So, looking forward for an intense and challenging series this one,” he added.
Iyer, who could just score 3 and 10 in Ireland T20Is, is trusting his “instincts” and feels he is in a good space batting-wise, pointing out how he has been timing the ball well in the nets.
“The way I am timing the ball in the nets, even in the match in the previous game, I thought I was timing brilliantly, just the odd ball bounced and took an inner edge. That does not justify how my batting is or how much pressure I am taking,” he said.
“I definitely believe in my instincts. I know how well I play under pressure. So, I just want to keep that faith in me and go forward in the upcoming matches,” he added.
On the much-anticipated debut of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, he said that “team’s hands are tied in terms of what they can do or not” and chose to be tight-lipped about whether he will get a debut cap or not.
“See, you never know what is going to happen. Our hands are also tied at the moment in terms of what we are going to do. Because this is very private. This is something that we discuss in the team. We cannot let everyone know about what combination we are going to play, and let the opponents know that this is going to happen,” he said.
“So, definitely, he is a brilliant prodigy. And whenever he gets an opportunity to play, definitely, he will do brilliantly,” the Indian captain signed off. (ANI)
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