Shreyas Iyer praises team performance after India’s dominant win over Afghanistan

Shreyas Iyer (Pic: AFP)

Indian captain Shreyas Iyer praised his squad's united effort after a comfortable seven-wicket victory against Afghanistan in the T20I series opener in Delhi.

Early wickets from Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy dismantled Afghanistan's top order, marking Iyer's first T20I victory as captain on home soil and securing a 1-0 series lead.

After dropping series to Ireland and England, Iyer found some breathing room following a series win in Zimbabwe and this strong start in Delhi. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Iyer highlighted Bumrah's opening spell (1/26) for establishing the bowling unit's early momentum, which Arshdeep capitalised on to finish with 3/19.

"Everyone worked in synergy towards the success. And as I mentioned earlier, Bumrah is a great asset for the team, and, you know, giving that start, creating the momentum for all the bowlers coming in. Arshdeep also, he bowled brilliantly, followed by Axar and Varun; the way they bowled, it was a phenomenal effort," Iyer stated.

Captain Iyer happy with India's top-order performances

Addressing the final over of Afghanistan's innings, where Shivam Dube conceded 21 runs to lift the visitors to 156/8, Iyer defended his all-rounder.

"Honestly speaking, there was no choice. And you saw that it is a bit unfair for Dube as well, coming in for the 20th over, not able to gauge the pace of the wicket, how the ball is going to go. I felt that he would be delivering at that particular moment, but it is absolutely fine because it is a game of cricket, and I'm sure that he will go and analyse what areas he needs to work on," he said.

India's chase was powered by an explosive 121-run second-wicket partnership between Abhishek Sharma (82 off 32) and Ishan Kishan (42 off 33), wrapping up the 157-run target in 13.4 overs despite Azmatullah Omarzai's earlier unbeaten 64 for Afghanistan.

Iyer commended the duo's approach: "Starting off with Abhishek, I feel that the shots he played it was flawless, and some of them were exemplary. But talking about Ishan, he has been in great form currently, and the way he has been in the dressing room and also on the ground during practice sessions, he is very relaxed, calm, and he knows his game at the moment. So that is a great sign for us as a team."

(With inputs from ANI)