New Zealand vs India 2020: Virender Sehwag Hails Shreyas Iyer For His Knock In First T20I

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has lavished praise on Shreyas Iyer after the latter’s stunning match-winning knock against New Zealand in the first T20I on Friday. India started their tour of New Zealand on a brilliant note by thrashing the hosts by six wickets. The Men in Blue chased down 204 with ease to take the lead in the five-match series.

India had their back against the wall after the Black Caps finished their innings on a mammoth total of 203 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs. Colin Munro and Martin Guptill set the tone for the big total by adding 80 runs for the first wicket before Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor joined the party too. Munro, Williamson and Taylor went on to score fifties to take the hosts to the big total.

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In reply, India started on a shaky note as they lost Rohit Sharma cheaply. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli then put India on track by adding 99 runs for the second wicket. However, the two departed in quick succession and it looked like New Zealand might run away with the game. However, Shreyas Iyer played one of the best knocks of his career so far to take India over the line.

The right-handed batsman, who arrived at the crease when India were 115 for 2, slammed a 26-ball fifty. He was well supported by Manish Pandey as the two shared an unbeaten 62-run stand. He eventually remained unbeaten on 58 off 29 balls.

Praise from Virender Sehwag:

Shreyas Iyer has been drawing praise from all over for his stunning knock and Virender Sehwag also made sure to laud the youngster. Soon after the game ended, Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to post a message for the batsman in his own unique style.

“Shreyas ko kaafi Shrey jaata hai. 204 Chase karna har kisi ko nahi aata hai.Great win and full on entertainment. Kohli, Rahul doing business as usual but very impressed with the temperament shown by @ShreyasIyer15,” wrote Sehwag who loves to play with words on Twitter.

Shreyas ko kaafi Shrey jaata hai.
204 Chase karna har kisi ko nahi aata hai.

Great win and full on entertainment.
Kohli, Rahul doing business as usual but very impressed with the temperament shown by @ShreyasIyer15 . #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/n0abS4E7A5

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 24, 2020