Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 7 (ANI): Following his maiden T20I ton, Indian T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer said that he had a conversation with former Indian cricketer and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, which helped him during his landmark ton.
Iyer's magic at Lucknow continued as he slammed a 43-ball 102* to take India to the 172-run target against West Indies at Lucknow on Tuesday. During his last fixture at Lucknow, Iyer slammed his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) ton against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a crucial match for Punjab Kings (PBKS). In five T20s in Lucknow, Iyer has slammed 335 runs at a strike rate of over 200, with two centuries and two fifties, dismissed only once.
Speaking in a video by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Iyer said, "It is a great start, especially after coming from Japan (Asian Games). It was kind of challenging, but I must say that is what we look for when we are playing at this level. We love challenges, and we want to make sure that we are at the top of our game and leave the excuses aside."
The T20I skipper was also happy with how he was setting himself before every delivery.
"I had a brief interaction with Abhishek Nayar in that period (during his time in Japan) where we were talking about cricket. I think that conversation with him helped me a lot in today's performance. The key note which I observed in my batting today was setting myself before the delivery of the ball, and that worked perfectly. So, to create that momentum and rhythm was essential at the start of the innings, and it worked out pretty well," he said.
This year, during his return to T20Is as a captain, Iyer has scored 511 runs in 17 matches and innings at an average of 39.30 and a strike rate of over 149, with a century and two fifties. His best score is 102*. This marked Iyer's first fifty-plus score in 10 innings after 80* against England in July this year, with his slump marked by some low scores and promising starts left unfulfilled.
He is also the third Indian skipper after Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav to post a T20I century. Shreyas is the only one to have done it in a run-chase. The previous highest by an India captain while batting second in T20Is was 94* by Virat Kohli against the same opponent in Hyderabad in 2019.
His 42-ball ton was the joint-third fastest T20I ton among captains from Test playing nations, with Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza (33 balls against Gambia in 2024) being at the top, followed by Rohit Sharma's 35-ball ton against Sri Lanka in 2017 and level with England skipper Harry Brook's 42-ball ton against Sri Lanka this year.
Coming to the match, fifties from skipper Shai Hope (52 in 37 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and Sherfane Rutherford (56 in 34 balls, with six fours and three sixes) took WI to 171 in 19.1 overs, with Naman Dhir (3/31) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/33) delivering dominant four-over spells. During the chase, after a cameo from Abhishek Sharma (21 in 10 balls, with three fours and a six), Ishan Kishan (37* in 27 balls, with five fours) and Shreyas took India to a win with eight wickets and over seven overs left.
The second T20I of the series will take place at Indore on October 11. (ANI)
"Had a conversation with Abhishek Nayar...": Skipper Iyer spills beans after magnificent maiden T20I ton
