Dinesh Karthik believes that despite their failures in the first India-New Zealand T20I, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer won’t feel “judged” or insecure in the Indian dressing room under the watch of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid.
Chasing 165 in Jaipur, India, looked comfortable for the most part. But when skipper Rohit Sharma (48) and Suryakumar Yadav (62) were dismissed in quick succession, the pressure was back. Shreyas Iyer (5 off 8) struggled with his timing, and debutant Venkatesh Iyer, too, hit a boundary off his first ball and lost his wicket on the next ball.
Dinesh Karthik: It’s Just One Game Where Shreyas Iyer And Venkatesh Iyer Failed As They Won’t Be Judged On The Basis Of The 1st T20I vs NZ
Their performances didn’t affect the result as Rishabh Pant (17*) sealed the final-over chase with two balls to spare. Speaking after the match, Dinesh Karthik said both Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid had endured a lot of failure in their careers, so they won’t let just one bad game affect Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer’s confidence.
Dinesh Karthik said: “Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer, the middle-order batsmen that didn’t look as good as they would have if they had played a long innings, won’t feel so judged in this dressing room. Both the coach and the captain have seen a lot of failures and that is the biggest advantage these boys will have in the dressing room.”
“They’ll feel rather calm and they’ll know it’s just one game… Sometimes you can feel judged and you question that ‘Am I good enough for this level?’ I think those questions won’t be the ones they’ll answer so early. It will be a very calm and easygoing dressing room,” said Dinesh Karthik.
Dinesh Karthik even defended Shreyas Iyer for his innings, saying he didn’t have a choice but to attack every ball, but it just didn’t come off on the day. Dinesh Karthik said that if someone needs to be blamed for the match going close, Suryakumar Yadav or Rohit Sharma should be well set for giving away their wickets.
Dinesh Karthik added: “You can’t fault Shreyas Iyer for doing it because at that stage you want boundaries. If it’s not there to be hit then you probably try and hit a cut shot, a flick shot, or a cover drive but your first instinct is to hit it for a six straight over the bowler’s head or over deep mid-wicket… If you have to go by results you can fault Surya or Rohit but if you go by process I think all of them played the right shots…”
Shreyas Iyer made a comeback to the Indian team after a long injury-forced break. Venkatesh Iyer, meanwhile, was slotted in a position – No.6 – where he hasn’t played much before. The duo is likely to get a long rope to cement their place in the team, including in the remaining two matches of the series.
Shreyas Iyer dislocated his shoulder while fielding against England in the first ODI in Pune on March 24. He missed the half-season of IPL 2021 due to an injury in his left shoulder while playing for India in the first match of an ODI series against England. He made his comeback after a span of 6 months for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021. In September 2021, Shreyas Iyer was named as one of three reserve players in India’s squad for the 2021 ICC T20I World Cup.
Ajay Jadeja: Rahul Dravid Best Man To Keep Things Calm
Earlier in the same interaction, Ajay Jadeja spoke on similar lines as Dinesh Karthik and remarked that international cricket is the best test of new coach Rahul Dravid’s nous. Ajay Jadeja also said that Rahul Dravid is the “best man” to keep the dressing room environment calm.
“The skill of a coach is tested at this stage, you know, how calm can you keep the dressing room, the guys going in next get the vibes… Rahul Dravid is the probably the best man around to keep things calm.”
India will look to extend their 1-0 lead on Friday in the second T20I in Ranchi.