DK has been a really good asset for us: Shreyas Iyer

On a track that didn’t really allow the Indian batters to get themselves in. It was Shreyas Iyer’s valiant 40 followed by Dinesh Karthik’s death overs blitzkrieg that allowed India to post a fighting total on a challenging surface at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack.

A surprising ploy earlier in the innings was a promotion up the order for Axar Patel. Shreyas Iyer revealed the thinking behind the move, saying, “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."

The move, although it might not have worked as well with Axar, appears to have been vindicated as Dinesh Karthik played his role to perfection. The RCB wicket-keeper’s 21-ball 30, 21 of which came in his last 5 balls, was instrumental in ensuring the Indian bowlers had a fair shot at defending a total on a surface that offered something for the bowlers.

Speaking of the difficulty of batting on a tricky Barabati surface, the top-scorer for Team India said, “I feel if something we could have done on this wicket is playing until 11 to 15 overs. 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."