Iyer played a two-layered innings, in which he focused on singles early on before opening up to punish the Pakistan bowlers
India's Shreyas Iyer plays a shot during the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and India at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. Pic/AFP
Shreyas Iyer on Sunday termed India's six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy as "sweet" because it came against a competitive team and involved warding off a lot of "external pressures." India have practically sealed a semifinal berth in the ICC showpiece with this win, and Iyer also played a handy role in it with a well-timed 56 off 67 balls.
"I haven't played that many matches in Pakistan, so I don't know exactly how it would have felt. But it's a neutral venue and it's a challenge for both the teams. But any victory against Pakistan is sweet because they are always competitive," Iyer told reporters in the post-match press conference.
"It's a challenge and there's a lot of pressure externally as well. It was a lot of fun. It was my third game in Pakistan," he added but did not elaborate what exactly he meant by external pressure. Iyer, who formed a vital 114-run alliance with Virat Kohli for the third wicket, lauded his senior colleague for making a fluent hundred.
It was Kohli's 51st ODI hundred, and he also completed 14000 runs in the format during the course of the knock. "I have never thought of Virat struggling for runs. It is just the mindset that he possesses over the years. He is always hungry for runs. I remember yesterday, he had come almost an hour before us for the practice session and he played a few balls and he was looking from outside. "He looked as crisp as he looks all the time. So, I never feel that he is struggling for his runs," he said.
No injury to Shami, Rohit
The Mumbaikar also allayed injury concerns over skipper Rohit Sharma and veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, as both had to stay away from the field during the initial phase of the Pakistan's innings. "As far as I know, both Rohit and Shami are fine. There is no injury concern to them," he said.
'Adapting is important'
Iyer played a two-layered innings, in which he focused on singles early on before opening up to punish the Pakistan bowlers. The 30-year-old explained the rationale behind his approach. "See, it is clear as sweeps and reverse sweeps cannot be played straightaway. But rotating the strike is going to be important because that puts a decent amount of pressure on the bowlers.
"They keep changing their line lengths. And once you keep taking singles, the bowlers are more under pressure and you can keep hitting the scoreboard from there on," he added. On his aggressive approach in the latter part of the innings, Iyer said: "I love to take on the bowlers when we are under pressure. And that is my mindset. If we take charge, if we gain the momentum towards us, then it is easy to steady the ship.
"And from there on, the rest of the batsmen, when they come in, it becomes easy for them." Iyer also lauded the Indian spinners for keeping Pakistan batters quiet in the middle overs. "They bowled tremendously, especially in the middle phase where the ball was turning. As we know, even in the previous game when we played over here, the wicket is a bit slow.
"It's spinner friendly and the way they have been bowling consistently over a period of time, I think the amalgamation of all three bowlers mixing up quite well, also the experience that they possess. I think that brings a lot of clarity in their bowling," he said.
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