Three days after celebrating an Asian Games gold medal in Japan, Shreyas Iyer was back in action thousands of kilometres away in India and the skipper somehow found enough energy to produce the innings of his T20I career.Iyer and several members of India’s Asian Games squad travelled back after beating Pakistan in the gold-medal match on October 3. Just three days later, they were at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, taking on West Indies in the opening T20I of a five-match series.After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, India restricted West Indies to 171 before Iyer took centre stage. The captain smashed an unbeaten 102 off just 43 balls, bringing up his maiden T20I century in 42 deliveries, as India chased down the target in 14.4 overs to take a 1-0 lead.
Iyer delivers despite the hectic turnaround
Asked if the exhausting travel had affected him, Iyer admitted he had barely realised it.“Not really, after exhausting travel, I didn’t realise. Adapted quickly and bowling first helped. I was actually thinking about getting my maiden T20I century and it came through. Winning tastes different. Today it was me who finished off the game,” Shreyas Iyer said in the post match presentation.
‘I am already sleepy’
He also reserved praise for debutant Naman Dhir, who picked up three wickets, before ending his post-match thoughts with perhaps the most relatable line of the night: “I am already sleepy.”
Dhir shines as India begin with a win
Earlier, debutant Naman Dhir returned impressive figures of 3/31 as India bowled West Indies out for 171. Shai Hope scored 52 while Sherfane Rutherford smashed 56 off 31 balls.India lost Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson early in the chase, but Iyer took control alongside Ishan Kishan, who scored 37. The pair added 137 runs to put India firmly in command as they take 1-0 lead in the series.