India vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I: Start was slow but it wasn't easy, says Shreyas Iyer after India's win

Shreyas Iyer admitted that the start to his unbeaten knock of 57 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka was slow but the conditions on the field weren't easy to negotiate. At one point, Iyer was 17 off 14 balls. But in the next 14 balls, he scored a whirlwind 40 runs to put a nice finishing touch to India's score of 199, setting the foundation for a 62-run victory later. "My start was slow but it wasn't easy. But once my eye got in and once I got a boundary, I thought I would keep going. Ishan (Kishan) wasn't able to time (in the middle overs) and he too was losing patience, so I told him to take his time and then he again started timing well. I just told him to take his time, look for twos and threes," said Iyer after the match.

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India beat Sri Lanka (SL) in the first T20I of a three match series by 62 runs to extend their winning streak to 10 consecutive matches, which is their longest ever. Put into bat first after losing the toss, India scored 199 for 2, thanks to a blistering 89 off 56 balls by Ishan Kishan with Shreyas

Talking about the plan while batting with Kishan, Iyer emphasised on strike rotation at a big ground. "Our plan was to hit the pockets. Initially that's what we did, and things came out pretty well for us. It's a huge ground, especially after playing at Eden Gardens (in Kolkata). We had planned to run a lot of twos and eventually our every plan came off." Speaking about his own innings, Iyer put it down to timing the ball well while going for his shots. "I was trying to stay in the present. I wasn't thinking a lot. I thought 180 would be a good total. I just focused on watching the ball closely and tried to time it well and play