Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 7 (ANI): Indian cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar hailed T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer following his maiden T20I ton, pointing out the shot-making and acceleration, which, according to him is a "strong signal" of the 'Sarpanch Sahab' being back to his best.
After 10 innings without a fifty-plus scores, Iyer broke the slump with a mesmerising, no-holds-barred maiden T20I ton during an easy run chase of 172 runs against West Indies at Lucknow on Wednesday. Having reached his fifty in 28 balls, it took the Indian skipper only 15 balls to race to his maiden T20I ton. Taking apart Akeal Hosein with two fours and a six in the 13th over and Matthew Forde for three sixes and a four in the next over, Iyer became a part of elite company featuring stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal as India's all-format international centurion.
Iyer also continued his fine run at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium. 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 on JioStar's 'Cricket Live', JioStar expert Gavaskar hailed Iyer's "treat to watch" shot-making and how he had "an answer to everything". He noted Iyer's form slump after taking over Indian T20I captaincy and how it was important for him to play a big knock.
"It was a sublime knock from Shreyas Iyer. He looked unstoppable, and no matter what lines and lengths the West Indian bowlers bowled, Iyer had an answer to everything. The shots he played were a treat to watch, especially the upper cut off Romario Shepherd, which showed that he meant business. Shreyas Iyer has had a bit of a torrid time with the bat since becoming the captain of this Indian T20I squad," he said.
"In recent times, the wins have come, but his own form with the bat was a concern. So, it was important for him to play a big knock, and he delivered in this first T20I. Iyer took complete control of the run chase and continued to accelerate through the middle overs. He reached his fifty in just 28 balls and then shifted gears completely, going from 50 to 102 in the space of just 15 balls. There had been questions on social media about Shreyas' batting form, and this hundred has silenced all of them. This knock is a strong signal that Shreyas Iyer is back to his best," he signed off.
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)
"Strong signal that he's back to his best": Gavaskar hails Iyer's maiden T20I ton
