We wanted to play aggressive cricket – Shreyas Iyer reflects on West Indies series

After what was a blockbuster series between India and West Indies, the curtains came down with rain playing killjoy in Bengaluru. There was incessant rain in Bengaluru throughout the day and eventually the game was forced to be shortened.

A clash that was supposed to be played for nine overs saw India putting up a show to savour with the bat.

However, rain intervened again and there was no coming back from there. The officials decided that the game had to be called off and the series ended at 2-2. India scored 118/5 from 7.4 overs before the skies opened up again. Talking at the post-match conference, Indian captain, Shreyas Iyer opened up on the overall series and the result at the end of it all.

Assessing the 2-2 result at the end of the series, Iyer said, “Well, it could have definitely been different, considering if we had bowled well in the second and the fourth game. Obviously, batting has been sensational throughout. It's just about that execution, which we were falling short, especially our bowlers were taking the ball. And also, you know, credit where it's due. They batted phenomenally well, and also Shai Hope, brilliant performance by him, the way he was cruising through in the series. It was difficult at times, but kudos to him.”

Highlighting the positives from the series, Iyer added, “I think the ability to bounce back, even after a loss. We had this mindset that we wanted to get and play aggressive cricket and see to it that we are at top of our game. And we replicated in some instances, but we weren't able to repeat it and be consistent throughout. But it's a great learning and a lot of positives as well. Even today, the way we, you know, went about our batting, it was outstanding, and I hope that we keep repeating well, and it is going to be a challenging series in New Zealand now.”

Revealing his conversation with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Iyer stated, “So I just keep telling him, you'll get your opportunity. You see there are two batters who have probably won the... not probably, they have won the World Cup for you, and they've been consistent with their run-scoring as well. So, you know, if you be consistent with your processes and your mindset is a bit light, not think too much about getting an opportunity right now. I know what must be going on in his mind, especially after a phenomenal IPL season. But you have to wait sometimes, and we've got two fantastic openers who have been consistent throughout. And yeah, that's the interaction I basically had with him, right from Afghanistan series.”

He concluded by talking about the intense travel that Team India has been going through, stating, “Yes, it's just like another day. We've been used to it, even constantly travelling in India. It's definitely not easy to recover and see to it that your routines are intact. But honestly speaking, we've been doing that pretty well, and we are adjusting to the conditions pretty fast. So as long as we are maintaining this consistently, it's good for the team.”