India news: Shreyas Iyer wants to show intent at the crease

India Player of the Match Shreyas Iyer backed himself to attack the Sri Lanka bowling despite coming up against a moving ball.

Iyer was good against pace but excelled against spin as the surface in Dharamsala offered little for the tweakers.

He said that timing was crucial in an innings where he chose to be aggressive against some good bowling.

When quizzed about his noticeable back and across trigger movement Shreyas Iyer responded: “That is my go-to movement, and I feel my body releases and I sight the ball well.

“It was really important for me to time the ball because it was swinging and seaming.

“Sanju came in and we built a crucial partnership.

“Jaddu bhai came in and it was a cruise. I realised that the ball was not turning and thought stepping out would be a good option. Even if I mistime it on this ground, the ball would go to the boundary.”

The relatively inexperienced middle order of Iyer and Sanju Samson stepped up well in a tricky chase in the second T20I.

This pleased skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been eager to see India’s middle order fire. Ravindra Jadeja came up to fifth to perform the finisher role with aplomb.

Rohit said: “I think it was pleasing to see for us.

“The middle order coming out and performing is good to see those guys taking the responsibility and finishing off games.

“They just need an opportunity to express themselves and backing from our side.

“To finish the way they did was really good.

“Jaddu came and looked positive from ball one and Shreyas Iyer as well. We lost a couple of wickets, but we wanted someone to stay till the end.

“If we need to rotate, we’ll do it,” Rohit said of Sunday’s dead rubber.

The India skipper wasn’t thrilled with the death bowling effort on the day.

“I don’t