'keep telling him you will get your opportunities': Iyer opens up on conversations with Sooryavanshi

Indian skipper Shreyas Iyer has revealed that he continues to encourage young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to trust his process and stay focused, assuring the teenager that he will get his chances. India’s five-match T20I series against the West Indies ended in a 2-2 draw after the rain-hit fifth match in Bengaluru was abandoned. The game was reduced to nine overs per side before rain forced an early end.

Sooryavanshi did not play a single match in the series and his last appearance for India came in the Asian Games final against arch-rivals Pakistan. The youngster has scored 246 runs in eight T20Is at a strike rate of over 186, including two half-centuries.

India continued to back Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as their openers. Samson scored 168 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 195.34, while Abhishek made 145 runs at a strike rate of 181.25. Both batters registered two half-centuries in the series.

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Speaking during the post-match proceedings about Sooryavanshi, Iyer said, “I just keep telling him Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, you will get your opportunities. If you are consistent with your process, mindset a bit light and not think too much about not getting an opportunity….you have to wait sometimes. We have two fantastic openers who’ve been consistent throughout.”

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Reflecting on the high-scoring series, Iyer admitted that India could have achieved a different result if their bowlers had performed better in the second and fourth matches, when they conceded more than 240 runs. The West Indies also pulled off a massive 250-run chase in the second T20I, making it one of the standout moments of the series.

“Could have been a different series scoreline if we had bowled well in the 2nd and 4th game. Batting has been sensational, execution we fell short. Credit where due, they batted phenomenally well. Kudos to Shai Hope; he was superb. The ability to bounce back even after a loss among the big plusses. We were not able to be consistent throughout, so great learning. Even today, the way we went about our batting was outstanding. Gonna be a challenging series in New Zealand now,” he signed off.