Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif lauded Team India captain Shreyas Iyer for his decision to bat first in the one-off T20I against Japan as well. Team India pulled off a thrilling two-run win as well. The match was reduced to five overs per side due to rain. The decision to bat first in a rain-shortened game, particularly against a team like Japan, was questioned, as the ideal scenario would usually be to chase in a shorter game as well. However, Mohammad Kaif added that it was a brave call to bat first.

“Usually, no one bats first in a five-over game. The thinking would have been that small teams find it difficult to chase and win. They lose most of the time. It was a brave call from the Indian team, and it was tactically the right call against a small team. You lost while chasing in Ireland. Small teams cannot finish games despite being ahead in patches. I will praise Shreyas for this call. Show me any game apart from one or two where a small team has won against a big team while chasing,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.

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However, Team India survived Japan’s scare and avoided what could have been an upset for the ages as well.

“I will not go into depth about this match or analyse a lot. Most of the upsets always happen in the shorter format. In this format, on the day, even one player can defeat a big team. India can have a bad day, and it can go here and there. This was just five overs, not even 20. So the chances are higher. Such a game was not even expected. It was close, but somehow they won the game,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.