After a comprehensive 62-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I, Dinesh Karthik opined on a couple of important takeaways for India from the game. He said that it was nice to see Harshal Patel did well in the powerplay, despite being considered a death-over specialist as well.
Batting first, Team India posted a huge total of 199/2 on the back of Ishan Kishan (89), Shreyas Iyer (57*), and Rohit Sharma (44). The Indian bowlers then did exceptionally well to restrict the opponents within 137/6 after 20 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/9), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/11), Ravindra Jadeja (1/28), and Venkatesh Iyer (2/36) claimed wickets.
Speaking on Cricbuzz live, Dinesh Karthik said: “The things I liked in the bowling attack was to see Harshal Patel bowl in the powerplay. Venkatesh Iyer stitched his first over well. Jadeja looked good, and Chahal created two opportunities in his spell. Those boxes were ticked for India. If there is a little bit of swing, we can see Bhuvi is a master and a handful to deal with. He had a quiet tour in South Africa, but he has come back and shown the world why he rated highly in this format, an absolute gem of a spell at the top.”
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Former Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan felt that Shreyas Iyer did exceptionally well in the first T20I as he adapted to the situation well too.
According to Zaheer, Shreyas Iyer played a mature knock. He said: “It’s never easy for batsmen to walk in after a great opening partnership. You are always caught up with the tempo you want to set, that is the challenge Shreyas Iyer had and you need a good temperament to handle that. He had to adapt and adjust to the low bounce and speed of the wicket. From that point of view, Shreyas did a fantastic job and played a matured knock.”
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“With Covid and other prevalent issues, Shreyas might get a chance to bat at any position 3,4,5 at any given point in near future. So the most important thing for him would be to put up enough scores to be part of the Indian set-up, and that’s what he is doing. He did okay against West Indies, and today, he performed well,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.
