IND vs SA: Our Plan Is To Attack 'Even If We Keep Losing Wickets'- Shreyas Iyer

The Indian batters battled on a tricky surface, with the exception of a 45-run second-wicket stand between Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer.

Over the results of bilateral T20Is, India is putting more emphasis on finalizing planning for the 2022 T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia in October-November. That’s what Shreyas Iyer remarked after India fell 2-0 behind South Africa in the five-match series after losing the second T20I in Cuttack. 

Our Main Aim Is The World Cup: Shreyas Iyer

“Our main aim is obviously the World Cup, so we have to see to it that we plan towards it,” Iyer said. 

 “So we have that sort of mindset where we are completely free and not thinking about anything else. These are the actual games where we can practise what we were lacking in the past. That’s what we keep discussing in the team meeting as well.

“No matter what happens, whatever plans we discuss in the team meeting, we have to execute those. Even if we fail, we will learn from that and grow as a player and grow as a team. So that’s more important till we reach Australia.” 

Will Continue With The Same Mindset In Future Games As Well: Shreyas Iyer

Batters are instructed to continue attacking even if wickets are falling at the other end. That strategy was on display in the first T20I, when practically every Indian hitter swung his bat about to help India reach 211 for 4 in the first innings. 

“We have made this plan that we will keep going no matter what happens,” Iyer said.

“Even if we keep losing wickets, it’s our game plan and in the future too, we will go in with the same mindset. We will back ourselves and back our instincts.” 

However, despite their best efforts, the Indian hitters were unable to score freely on a tricky Cuttack pitch on Sunday. They could only manage 148 for 6 in the end, which wasn’t enough. 

“I feel if something we could have done on this wicket is playing until 11 to 15 overs,” Iyer said. 

 “But at the same time you need to keep the scoreboard ticking also. If I look back, I think 160 could have been a really good score on the board to put them under a little bit of pressure but we were around 12 runs short.” 

Dinesh Karthik Will Be Used In The Last Overs: Shreyas Iyer

Dinesh Karthik will be used primarily in the last five overs, according to Iyer. In the 13th over, they lost their fourth wicket, and Axar Patel came in ahead of Karthik. Axar barely got 10 out of 11 balls.

With 37 balls remaining in the innings, Karthik came out, but he, too, struggled to score swiftly. At one point, he was on 9 out of 16 balls before concluding with 30 not out off 21. 

“It’s definitely something we have strategised earlier as well. We had seven overs left and Axar Patel is someone who can take singles, who can keep rotating the strike. And we didn’t require someone to come in and start hitting from ball one at that point of time.

Even DK [Karthik] can do that obviously but DK has been a really good asset for us after 15 overs where he can come and straightaway slog the ball. Even he found it difficult to start well today. Obviously, the wicket played a huge role in today’s game, but we will be using this strategy in the next games as well.” 

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