“Could Have Won Earlier”: Iyer Dissatisfied After Defeating Pakistan With 'Only' 45 Balls Remaining

“Do you think that you won the match easily?” a reporter asked Shreyas Iyer after India completed the chase against arch-rivals Pakistan with ease and won their second game on the trot in the ICC Champions Trophy by six wickets. 

Iyer was quick to respond with a question of his own. 

“I don't know how many overs were left. Can you just tell me how many overs were left?,” the swashbuckling batter asked. 

“45 balls,” came the reply. 

Iyers paused, thought about it, scratched his ears, shifted in his seat, and said with the confidence one has come to associate with his batting in the middle. 

“I think we could have won a bit earlier, could have been a convincing win based on how the wicket was playing,” said Iyer, as if winning the game with 45 balls remaining wasn’t enough. India’s net run rate reached +0.647 after the win.  

“I was initially coming on pretty well with the new ball and after that it was difficult to score runs when the ball got a bit old. But if we would have played more aggressively we would have won a bit earlier I felt.”

However, when asked if he preferred to play this game in Lahore and if the victory would have tasted sweeter there, Iyer took the safer route. 

“See I have not played a single match in Pakistan yet – but at the end of the day, it’s a neutral venue,” he said. 

“It’s a challenge for both the teams. We don’t come and play in Dubai much either, but at the end of the day any victory against Pakistan is sweet because it's always competitive and it's a challenge and there's a lot of external pressure. 

“It was a lot of fun. It was my third game against Pakistan. It was fun.”

Meanwhile, Iyer also dispelled any concerns about the fitness status of skipper Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who had left the field for brief spells while India was fielding in the first innings. Shami was also seen getting some treatment on his leg, just below his knee, which was operated on a few months ago. 

“Not really to be looking at them - I mean, I had a brief chat with them. Both of them were quite comfortable with the way things progressed, and yeah, from my knowledge, I don't think there is any issue,” India’s number four batter said.