New Delhi: India skipper Shreyas Iyer lauded his bowlers for holding their nerves and confidently executing their plans to help the hosts secure a thrilling 14-run victory in the against West Indies at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, October 11.
West Indies got off to a shaky start in the 224-run chase but recovered well towards the end to nearly pull off another sensational victory. However, the Indian bowlers did well in the death overs to restrict the visitors to 209/7 and secure a 14-run victory for the team.
Iyer praised the clarity and confidence displayed by his bowlers during the run chase as he praised their performance. The Indian skipper said every bowler was up for the challenge when he handed the ball to them during West Indies’ run chase in Indore.
“It was wonderful because the bowlers were pretty confident with what they wanted to execute. The clarity was much more visible. They were decisive in their execution and when I was passing the ball to them, each and every bowler was up for the challenge and that’s what you want,” Iyer said during the post-match presentation.
India defeated West Indies by 14 runs in the game to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. It was a morale-boosting victory for the hosts after they failed to defend a mammoth total of 249 runs in the 2nd T20I against West Indies at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi.
Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers for India in the 3rd T20I on Sunday. The left-arm pacer finished with excellent figures of 3/44 off his 4 overs to help India secure a victory in the high-scoring encounter. Arshdeep was awarded the Player of the Match for taking crucial wickets of Shai Hope, Sherfane Rutherford and Keemo Paul.
Arshdeep was well supported by all-rounders Naman Dhir and Axar Patel, who picked up three wickets between them. Pacer Prince Yadav went wicketless in the game but kept things tight in the middle overs to help India defend the total of 223 runs successfully.
Iyer praises Prince Yadav’s cameo with bat
Iyer also praised Prince for his later cameo with the bat, which helped India go past the 220-run mark, batting first in the game. Prince scored a quickfire 13 off 6 balls, which was laced with three boundaries.
Abhishek Sharma top-scored for India with 69 off 30 deliveries and combined with Ishan Kishan (37 off 18) to share a 108-run stand for the second wicket and set the stage for a big total for India. Cameos from Tilak Varma, Nitish Reddy, Axar and Prince helped India finish with 223 runs on the board.
“Honestly, that was a phenomenal start. Abhishek doing what he does in the powerplay and Kishan coming in. He’s been great in the last few months. Even Prince (Yadav) playing the cameo in the end, those were crucial runs,” Iyer said.
“West Indies, you can never take them lightly. So, we had to make sure we never got complacent. These are high-scoring grounds but it’s important to stick to our process and follow our routines and make sure we stay offensive,” he added.