India maintained their winning spree in the ICC Champions Trophy with a dominant six-wicket win over hosts Pakistan. The match hero was Virat Kohli, whose unbeaten 100 off 111 balls kept India on course for the win. He received good support from Shreyas Iyer, with the two getting together to form a match-winning 114-run partnership that left India on the doorstep of victory.
Even though he was a key figure in the victory, Iyer was not happy with India’s approach during the chase. As a batter who is recognized for his attacking stroke play, the middle-order batsman decided to take a defensive approach for the initial stages, scoring a nicely crafted 56 off 67 balls. But during the post-match media conference, he hinted that India could have concluded the match much earlier had they taken a more attacking approach.
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“I feel that we could have won a little sooner. It would have been a more decisive win,” Shreyas Iyer said. When it was put to him by a journalist that a six-wicket win with more than seven overs still in hand wasn’t dominating enough, Iyer said, “But if we had been more aggressive, we could have finished it off earlier.”
One of India’s rare troubles during their pursuit was Pakistan mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed. Abrar, the 26-year-old, returned with a marvellous spell of 1/28 in his 10 overs with one sensational ball which dismissed Shubman Gill. Iyer, a proven batsman against spin, has shown appreciation to Abrar for his genius as well as finding it hard to score runs off him.
“Abrar bowled extremely well. It was very important for me to see him through his spell and change the strike. As soon as I settled in, I thought sweep and reverse sweep were the perfect options to keep him under pressure,” Shreyas Iyer said.
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India’s latest triumph seals their leadership of Group A, while Pakistan, having won nothing from their first two games, now needs a miracle to stay alive for the knockout rounds.
