India vs West Indies: Responsibility leads to restraint, says Shreyas Iyer

The 25-year-old is gradually settling into the critical number four position in a team that has struggled to find one for the longest time.

The efficiency of India’s top order makes batting in limited overs a tough act to follow for those who come in after the first three. The top three’s dominance means that they get little game time.

Shreyas Iyer. (PTI)

On the rare occasion when they do get overs— when the openers and Virat Kohli fall cheaply—they struggle to cope. It is a difficult problem to address, India batting coach Vikram Rathour had said in Chennai.

“We have enough depth now to keep batting throughout the innings with a lot of intent,” said Rathour. One day later, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant walked Rathour’s talk adding 114 in 113 balls for the fourth wicket.

Not hitting an aerial shot till the 76th ball he faced, which was dispatched for a six, Iyer made 70 from 88 balls. With responsibility comes restraint, he said here on Saturday.

“I was a flamboyant player when I started playing first-class cricket. I never used to take responsibility. I would back my instincts and go with the flow. Lately, I’ve realised that once you play at the highest level, you got to take that maturity to another stage. You have to play according to what the team demands. And that’s what I did the other day (in Chennai).

“The team didn’t demand me to score big shots at that time; we just needed a big partnership, keep the scoreboard going. I’m really happy about what I did in the first game,” said Iyer, 25.

Iyer followed up his score in Chennai with 53 in Visakhapatnam. It was an innings that began with Iyer allowing Rohit Sharma take most of the strike. After Sharma fell, Iyer scored 35 from 15 balls. His innings had three fours and four sixes. All four over-boundaries came in the 47th over bowled by off-spinner Roston Chase, Iyer also hitting a four off the fourth ball. Chase went for 31, Iyer scoring 28 of them. “In the last four-five overs we let it get away and that is where we lost the game,” said West Indies coach Phil Simmons here.

“In ODIs, you have a lot of time to pace your innings. In T20s, if you see the ball really well, you can just go on from the first ball,” said Iyer under whose captaincy Delhi Capitals finished third in IPL 2019.

“Delhi went from being the eighth team in 2017 to coming third (in 2019) and Shreyas did a wonderful job. Also in the last 12 months, he has cemented his place in the Indian limited-overs team. So we see no reason to tinker with the winning formula,” said Delhi Capitals owner Parth Jindal at Thursday’s IPL auction. Jindal was explaining why the franchise chose to repose faith in the Mumbaikar after getting R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, both of who have led IPL teams.

India’s trouble with the No. 4 slot hurt them in the last World Cup. A lot can happen between now and 2023 but Iyer has made the position his own now.

He isn’t making much of it. Iyer pointed out that he batted at No. 5 away to the West Indies earlier this year. Omitted from the T20Is, Iyer scored 71 (68b; 4x5, 6x1) and 65 (41b; 4x3; 6x5) in the ODIs.

“I am flexible that way. It’s just that you have got to play according to the situation and what the team demands. And that’s what I did. I know that I can play in both flows. I can play strokes and I can nudge the ball and take singles. I know my game really well right now and I can play accordingly,” he said.

In both ODIs away, the No. 4 slot was given to Rishabh Pant. The roles have reversed now but with Pant too firing, the middle is less of a muddle now.