Ishan Kishan Praises Shreyas Iyer After Match-Winning Maiden T20I Century

New Delhi — India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan praised captain Shreyas Iyer’s aggressive approach and debutant Naman Dhir’s fearless bowling after India opened their five-match T20I series against the West Indies with an eight-wicket victory at Ekana Cricket Stadium.

Iyer struck an unbeaten 102 as India successfully chased 172, while Dhir claimed three wickets to help restrict the West Indies to 171.

Kishan remained unbeaten on 37 from 27 balls and shared an unbroken 137-run third-wicket partnership with Iyer. India had lost both openers inside the first four overs, but the pair steadied the innings before accelerating through the chase.

Kishan said he was happy to play a supporting role once it became clear that Iyer was in exceptional touch.

“As a batter, when I’m not looking in that great of a touch and the batter at the other end is looking in great form and is connecting the ball well, in this case Shreyas Iyer, then I don’t mind playing second fiddle at all. He was scoring the bulk of the runs in our partnership, and when he’s batting beautifully, it’s my job to let him punish the opposition bowlers,” Kishan said.

“He did that job remarkably, and, in the end, we executed the run chase successfully. The plan was simple. We had a target in mind, and we broke it down into small parts. Whenever the bowler bowled in my zone, I looked to score. On the other end, Shreyas was in full flow, so we just kept the scoreboard moving. There was no panic because we knew one good over would change the game. That is what happened, and we got over the line,” he added.

Iyer reached his maiden T20I century from 42 balls and finished with 10 fours and six sixes. India completed the chase in 14.4 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Earlier, Dhir made an immediate impact on his international debut, finishing with figures of 3/31. He dismissed Shai Hope, Romario Shepherd and Shamar Springer.

Kishan, who had previously seen Dhir bowl during their time with the Mumbai Indians, said the all-rounder’s willingness to remain aggressive after being hit for a six stood out.

“I have seen Naman bowl during my Mumbai Indians days and at that time I would say he was more of a part-time bowler. But looking at how he was bowling in this match and the confidence he had, after getting hit for a six, on your debut, you tend to go more defensive. But Naman didn’t do that and kept on giving that extra flight to the opposition batters, which helped him get a couple of wickets in his debut game,” Kishan said.

“Him not going defensive and attacking the batters is something that makes you understand that this player has actually worked hard on his bowling, on his skill. It shows he has the mindset to take wickets and not just survive. If he keeps bowling like this, he will go a long way,” he added.

Kuldeep Yadav also took two wickets as India bowled out the West Indies for 171 in 19.1 overs before Iyer and Kishan guided the hosts to a comfortable victory. (Source: IANS)