Follow UsShreyas Iyer was at his absolute best in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The right-hander from Mumbai smashed three consecutive unbeaten half-centuries (57*, 74* and 73*) and played a massive role in India’s 3-0 series win. Iyer, who scored 204 runs in three encounters, was named Player of the Series and is looking to pounce on every single opportunity that comes his way.
"Firstly, I want to cherish this moment. I have achieved a really good total in this T20I series. I want to relax a bit, give myself time and not think too much beyond. I am just staying in the moment now. If you are playing the T20I format, if you bat in the top 3, that is a place from where you can pace your innings really well. If you bat down the order, you cannot give yourself time and you have to go from ball one," said Iyer during a virtual press conference.
Former India captain Virat Kohli didn’t feature in this series and that allowed Iyer to bat at No. 3. Despite slamming three consecutive fifties, Iyer might find it difficult to get a place in the playing XI once Kohli makes his return. Suryakumar Yadav (injured) and Rishabh Pant (rested) too didn’t play against Sri Lanka and once they come back, it will be difficult for Iyer to break into the batting line-up.
"If you see competition in our team, it is immense. I just want to enjoy each and every opportunity. I like to finish off the games and that is my mindset. I cannot talk about cementing my place, competition is so much, you need to be flexible in batting at any position,” said Iyer.
"My mindset is to grab as many opportunities as I can and maximise them. I am playing like I used to, there has been no special preparation. Every player has his own strength and weakness. My mindset is to focus on my strengths. I do not get bogged down if people think short ball is my weakness."
The Australian pacers have in the past exploited his frailties against the short ball, especially in the white-ball formats of the game, and coach Rahul Dravid was recently seen working with him at the nets.
"Honestly, I've not worked on it. I'm just playing the way I used to... If you have the right mindset, you can play any ball. It does not make any difference to me if you think I've weakness against the short-pitch ball. I've obviously reached this level playing the short balls. You don't have to prepare separately for this."
Chasing a target of 147 in the third and final T20I, India lost Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson inside seven overs but Iyer kept the scoreboard moving and found good support from Deepak Hooda and Ravindra Jadeja. India won the game with 19 deliveries to spare and became the second Test playing nation after Afghanistan to win 12 T20Is in a row.