Shreyas Iyer was the top scorer for India in the first innings of the pink-ball Test.
Opting to bat first, the hosts were reeling at 86/4 on a turning track when Iyer came to the crease. Amid the pressure situation, he attacked the Sri Lankan bowlers from the outset and completed his half-century off 54 balls.
Although India kept losing wickets at regular intervals, Shreyas held the one end firmly and stitched vital partnerships with the tail-enders to take India’s first innings total to 252/10. He was the last man to be dismissed on 92 and His 98-ball knock was studded with 10 fours and 4 sixes.
Speaking after the first day’s play, Shreyas Iyer said batting with a defensive mindset does not help on difficult wickets like the Chinnaswamy track.
“My plan when I went out to bat was to cut down the spin (negate turn), so I decided to step out,” Iyer told media.
“As I was standing on the middle stump, I was cutting down across the wicket so I could cover the spin and can take a single in the mid-wicket area and I am confident when I do that. When you step out, you play with the mind of the bowler and spoil his line and length,” he added.
“The players who defended the ball, there was a lot of chance of nicking. The ball was staying low and there was variable bounce on the wicket. You can’t play negative on this wicket, just keep defending the ball. You need to have that positive intent when you step out on the field and you know that the wicket is not that great and obviously bowler-friendly, so my mindset was to play each ball on its merit and see to it that I get runs on every ball,” he explained.
Shreyas might have missed out on his second Test century but he doesn’t have any regret.
“I am disappointed that I missed out on a hundred, but if you see from the team’s perspective, we got to a very fighting total, which is 250 especially on this wicket. And seriously I don’t have any regrets. When I play on the field, I play for the team, i don’t play for myself.
“The results matter for me and my teammates, skipper, coaches all of them have been really supportive throughout and that’s what really matters. And I felt fifty was alike a century because the I celebrated it was like a century feeling for me,” he said.
According to Iyer, it was not easy to prepare for such pitches that assist the spinners from Day 1.
“In Bombay (Mumbai), the bounce is with pace but here it was stopping a bit. It was variable and you actually can’t prepare for such wickets. you need to have a good day and you need to see that you are not thinking about getting out. Once you let enter that thought, you can’t move your legs or hands.”
Iyer also didn’t mind that the opening day of a Test match was heavily in favour of the spinners.
“From Championship point of view, you obviously want to win every game and that can’t be achieved unless you put such challenging wickets.
“And I am really happy that there are challenges in every format and every wicket you play on now a days. It’s fun to explore such wickets and perform at the highest level,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)