ENG vs IND 5th T20I – ‘Going to make me better going forward’ – Shreyas Iyer on tough start to captaincy

Coming into the side missing 63 T20Is, and replacing one of the most successful captains in T20 cricket, Shreyas Iyer has had close to the worst possible start to his captaincy career with India. They have lost all six completed matches, including losing to Ireland for the first time in international cricket – 2-0 in the series – then 4-0 against England. After India’s final defeat in Southampton, Iyer spoke of the need to stay positive and not to react to the public reaction to the results against Ireland and England, which have also resulted in India losing the No. 1 ranking in T20Is.

“It’s not hard, honestly,” Iyer said when asked about the expectations surrounding him, as he took over a side that had not lost a series or a tournament in three years. “I feel it’s a privilege for me to take over the captaincy. Every individual dreams of captaining for the Indian team. And taking on from [that] high, definitely I love pressure, and I feel it’s a privilege.

“So for me to thrive under pressure, to learn from these moments is definitely going to make me better going forward. And that’s my mindset right now. Not thinking much about how people are going to think about this particular series because see, good and bad, it’s part and parcel of this game.

“Going forward, I need to be extremely positive in how I’m going to basically nurture everyone who is playing around me, especially in overseas conditions. We know we are going to play in Australia and many other series before that. So the best camaraderie to fit in these conditions… our goal is that going forward, that is going to be our plan.”

The conditions and ever-changing dimensions and shapes of England grounds, Iyer said, was the hardest part of leading the team in this series. “We kept on going from one venue to another and we kept on facing challenges, especially in terms of the dimensions, the grounds, the conditions,” Iyer said. “Just to adapt to it as quickly as we could have anticipated… that didn’t happen. That was one challenge. And the other one is definitely they outplayed us in all departments, I would say. So I think the combinations of all these points definitely led to this result.”

The batters struggled to come to terms with the slight extra bounce and the spongy nature of surfaces in Ireland and England. The bowlers, especially the spinners, were a distant second to the home bowlers. However, Iyer spoke about the lapses in fielding too. Even in the last T20I, Harry Brook was dropped early in his innings of 95 off 45.

“Just in terms of the fielding, I think it plays a key role, especially building that momentum and energy around the team environment,” Iyer said. “We went to Ireland, and we fielded here. I think we were definitely dominated by them in that aspect. And why I feel fielding is very important is because it basically creates a rhythm in the team. So especially in T20 where your fitness demands you to be agile, you need to be aware about how the conditions are going to be, especially different outfields and different wickets. So I think that’s one department if we are probably the best, if we basically dream to be the best team, we’ll definitely prosper.”

Iyer’s selection of the playing XI has also come under fire. India first delayed the debut of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – not playing him in their two T20Is against Ireland – then introduced him after a washed-out first game in England, in place of Sanju Samson.

Sooryavanshi’s inclusion then created the issue of too many left-hand batters in the top seven. India had to counter the same issue in the World Cup four months ago with the injection of the right-handed Samson. In between the Sooryavanshi non-selection, then debut, then drop, the selectors also left out Samson from the squad for Zimbabwe later this month altogether. However, so desperate was the team management for a right-hand batter in against England that they reintroduced Samson at the expense of Sooryavanshi for this final T20I.

“We needed to try the best combination that would be perfect in these conditions,” Iyer said about dropping Sooryavanshi. “And we also wanted a right-hander to go on with Abhishek. So that was one of the major reasons. I was the only one out of all the left-handers who’s a right-hander. So we wanted to try a different combination, which would be suitable for this particular game. And he’s a gun batsman. He has won so many series for us in the past.”

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