Shreyas Iyer showed the world what he could do in the shortest format if set in the middle. India's captain smashed his maiden century in the T20I format on Tuesday, helping India register an emphatic eight-wicket win in the series opener against the West Indies. Ever since he was appointed as the skipper earlier this year, there has been a lot of chatter about his position, and the scrutiny intensified after the losses against Ireland and England. However, slowly and steadily, the experienced campaigner is growing into the role, and the Lucknow T20I is perhaps the biggest sign of things to come.
After being adjudged Player of the Match, Shreyas admitted he had been thinking about scoring a century, and his dream eventually came true. “Exultant, that's the word I am going to use. Honestly, I was thinking about getting my first century, and it came true. So, definitely want to say that dreams do come true,” Shreyas said at the post-match presentation.
The 31-year-old was slow off the blocks in the powerplay as he gauged the wicket but once he got his eye in, Shreyas broke free, smashing the Windies bowlers all around the park. The batter took just 42 balls to get to the landmark and en route became the first Indian skipper to score a T20I century during a run chase. Shreyas smashed 10 fours and 6 sixes in his innings and eventually remained unbeaten on 101 off 43 balls to help the hosts chase down the target of 172 with eight wickets in hand and 32 balls to spare.
With this knock, Shreyas became the third Indian captain after Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav to score a century in T20Is.
The Indian camp didn't have much rest after the Asian Games gold and had to hit the ground running for the series opener against the West Indies. “After that exhausting travel, I didn't even realise where I was, to be honest. I think every day I just need to wake up like this. But yeah, adapted quickly to the wicket, to the conditions, and I think bowling first helped us a lot. I was going to ask you about that up front, if your numbers hadn't been so dramatic,” said Shreyas.
How did the match unfold?
The first T20I between India and the West Indies began with Shreyas winning the toss and opting to bowl. Debutant Naman Dhir then returned with three wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 171. Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford smashed half-centuries for the Windies, but the side failed to play out the full quota of twenty overs.
In the chase, Abhishek Sharma (21) and Sanju Samson (11) were dismissed in the powerplay, but Shreyas and Ishan Kishan (37*) ensured that India got over the line to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.