Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said Ishan Kishan played the anchor role and helped Shreyas Iyer score his maiden T20I hundred in the opening game against West Indies. The match was played on Tuesday, October 6, in Lucknow.
Chasing 172, Iyer led from the front with a brilliant ton, finishing unbeaten on 102 off 43 balls, including 10 fours and six sixes. Meanwhile, Kishan remained unbeaten on 37 off 27 balls, scoring five fours, as India won by eight wickets with 32 balls in hand.

Speaking during a discussion on his YouTube channel (Ash Ki Baat), Ashwin said: “Shreyas Iyer had not won a single game in his first seven games as captain, but now the world has turned around. He has not lost a single game in the last 10 games. There will be more challenges, but Shreyas is truly back. He has just scored a hundred. It looks like Ishan Kishan anchored things from the other end and took Shreyas Iyer towards his century.”

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“The way Shreyas Iyer batted against Akeal Hosein, once the ball got old, he hit him over extra cover off the back foot twice. Off the back foot over extra cover. I think anyone who has played cricket, no matter how much, would know that it is not easy to hit a left-arm spinner over extra cover off the back foot,” he further added.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin opined on Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who gave away 24 runs in his first two overs before finishing with figures of 2/33 in his four-over spell. Ashwin also applauded the spinner for making a good comeback as well.

“Even today, he proved to be very expensive in his first two overs, but after that, he made a good comeback. Rutherford got a four off the inside edge, did not pick Kuldeep’s googly, but still showed enough courage to keep tossing it up and spinning the ball,” he concluded.