Shreyas Iyer Talks About His Mindset After His Century In IND vs AUS 2nd ODI, Says He Wants To Play In The 'V'

Indian batter Shreyas Iyer talked about the staggering knock that he played in the ongoing second ODI against Australia at Holkar Stadium in Indore. He said that his mindset was to play in the V and he was delighted with the way he played throughout his innings.

Shreyas Iyer played a staggering innings in the second ODI against Australia. He silenced all the criticism related to his place in the side in style. The batter slammed a magnificent century and it’s fair to say that he almost locked his place in the XI.

Shreyas Iyer came to bat when India lost Ruturaj Gaikwad early. He came out with a positive mindset and took attack to the bowlers right from the time he settled up in the field. The batter played some eye-catching strokes that put pressure on the opposition batters.

Shreyas Iyer paved his way through the elegant century, his 3rd in ODIs, that put his side in the dominating position. He scored 105 runs off 90 balls. The batter played with a strike rate of 116.67 and also smashed 11 fours and 3 sixes in his innings.

Shreyas Iyer talked about how difficult it was for him to hold the bat as he had cramps. He revealed that he was focused on timing the ball more and also talked about his partnership with Shubman Gill, who also scored a century. Speaking to broadcasters, he explained:

“My focus was on the cramps, it wasn’t allowing me to hold (the bat) firmly. I was almost out caught and bowled, I realised that my top hand wasn’t working. When I was reaching the boundary line, I decided I am going to try and smash every ball. I felt that I got the team in the right position. I was happy throughout the innings.

“My mindset was to play the ball in the V. I wasn’t focusing a lot on hitting the ball hard, I wanted to time it. I was experiencing variable bounce. Thankfully we were able to take that momentum towards our side. Shubman and I, we played a pretty decent knock in the middle and we laid a great platform and steadied the ship for the team.”

I was trying to play the ball on its merit – Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer further mentioned that he tried to play the ball on its merit and added that he and Gill tried to create a rhythm between them. He elaborated:

“The other batsmen came in and expressed themselves. I got a great start and after that, I was trying to play the ball on its merit. Shubman took on the charge and he was dictating the terms in the middle phase and then again I took the momentum.

“It was like creating great rhythm between each other. It worked out for the team. Every individual stepped up to the occasion. When I went in to bat, there was variable bounce. Pretty hard to judge. I think we have a defendable total on the board.”

After tons by Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (58) and Ishan Kishan (31) played blistering cameos that made sure that India were in the game at every stage. Suryakumar Yadav then finished the innings on high as he smashed an unbeaten 72 runs off 37 balls to take India to a total of 399 runs.