India captain Shreyas Iyer heaped massive praise on teammates for helping him win his first T20I series. The visiting team completed a 3-0 clean sweep over Zimbabwe after a 35-run victory in the third and final game at the Harare Sports Club. The Men in Blue posted 192 for 5 after winning the toss, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi posting 81 off 49 balls, with the help of 8 boundaries and 5 maximums. The bowlers did their job to perfection, restricting the host nation to 157/7 in 20 overs. Mayank Yadav took three wickets while Yash Thakur got rid of two batters.
India dominated the batting and bowling departments, but the fielding was below par, considering the players dropped five catches in the last game. Vaibhav was the biggest positive of the series as the 15-year-old posted 151 runs in three games and was named the Player of the Series. Mayank, who was playing his first bilateral assignment in two years, bowled with pace and finished as the highest wicket-taker. The pacer picked up 5 wickets in three outings at an average of 14.40.
After a difficult start as a skipper, Iyer was pleased as the team clinched the series against the Sikandar Raza-led team. He talked about the takeaways and the positives from the series.
“As we saw, how fearlessly they are. A young bunch of players showing tremendous energy and intent on the field. To have that kind of energy is what I demand as a captain, and we saw that. Special series win. Clinical. 3-0, so it’s a special one. I think if you see the record, I’ve played the same number of matches as all of them. They have a lot of experience thanks to the IPL. Special bunch,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
He highlighted his style as a leader of the group.
“I try to make sure they are comfortable and relaxed. That’s how you can get the best out of them. You see boys taking that responsibility and winning games. You need that as a captain. The amount of calmness that we possess, and if we show the same courage going forward, it’s going to be good for Indian cricket.
“If we keep levelling up and not think about the results, it will be good for us as a group. That’s the message we gave to the players. It doesn’t matter what situation we are facing. We have to perform to the best of our abilities and see the team through,” he added.
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