Arun Jaitley Stadium: India skipper Shreyas Iyer lauded his bowling unit's collective effort for setting up a clinical seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the first T20I here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. He also highlighted the immediate impact made by returning fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
India restricted Afghanistan to 156/8 before chasing down the target with 38 balls to spare. "Yes, absolutely. I’m grateful for that, and everyone worked in synergy towards the success and as I mentioned earlier, Bumrah is a great asset to the team, and, you know, giving that start, creating the momentum for all the bowlers coming in," said Iyer at the conclusion of the game.
He also praised the other bowlers for keeping the pressure on the opposition through the middle overs. "Arshdeep also bowled brilliantly, followed by Axar and Varun; the way they bowled was a phenomenal effort," he added.
Asked if he could have handled the final over differently after Shivam Dube was handed the ball late in the innings, Shreyas defended the move. "Honestly speaking, there was no choice. And you saw that it’s a bit unfair for Dube as well coming in for the 20th over, not able to gauge the pace of the wicket, how the ball is going to go on.
“So, I felt that he would be delivering at that particular moment, but it’s absolutely fine because it’s a game of cricket, and I’m sure that he’ll go and analyze what areas he needs to work on."
Shreyas was equally effusive in his praise for the top-order pair of Abhishek Sharma (82) and Ishan Kishan (42), who put on an important 121-run stand. "Starting off with Abhishek, I feel that the shots he played were flawless, and some of them were exemplary.
“But talking about Ishan, he’s been in great form recently, and the way he’s been portraying himself in the dressing room and also on the ground during practice sessions, he’s very relaxed, calm, and he knows his game at the moment. So that’s a great sign for us as a team."
On the other hand, Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran conceded that his side fell well short of a par score after losing wickets in clusters early in the innings. "We didn’t get the result we wanted. I would say we had three good starts, then we didn’t contribute well.
“But talking about Ishan, he’s been in great form recently, and the way he’s been portraying himself in the dressing room and also on the ground during practice sessions, he’s very relaxed, calm, and he knows his game at the moment. So that’s a great sign for us as a team."
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Zadran identified a key run-out of him, executed by Kishan, as the moment when the game tipped decisively in India's favour. "I would say that run-out was the turning point. Ishan Kishan grabbed the ball and threw it to the fielder, the bowler. I would say that was the turning point; they got the momentum."