"I want to cherish this moment"- Shreyas Iyer after his record-breaking performance against Sri Lanka

Shreyas Iyer was at the peak of his powers in the T20I series against Sri Lanka [Image- BCCI]
Shreyas Iyer was at the peak of his powers in the T20I series against Sri Lanka [Image- BCCI]

Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer was chuffed to bits in the post-match press conference with his astounding performance in the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

The 27-year-old smashed a plethora of records over the course of three T20Is and was rightly adjudged the "Player of the Match and Series".

India swept aside a helpless Lankan unit 3-0 in Dharamshala on Sunday evening.

Speaking to the media, Iyer said that he just wants to ’cherish this moment', ’relax a bit' and not think too much beyond. He also talked about the change in approach which is required while batting in the top-3 as compared to batting in the middle-order.

He said:

‘’Firstly, I want to cherish this moment, I have achieved a really good total in this T20I series. I want to relax a bit, give myself time and not think too much beyond. I am just staying in the moment now. See if you are playing the T20I format, if you bat at top 3, that is a place from where you can pace your innings really well. If you bat down the order, you cannot give yourself time and you have to go from ball one."

Iyer got an opportunity to bat at the No.3 spot in the absence of Virat Kohli and the Mumbai lad made the most of it.The newly-appointed Kolkata Knight Riders skipper stitched scores of 57* (28), 74* (44) and 73* (45) without getting dismissed even once.

'My mindset is to grab as many opportunities I can and I maximize it' - Shreyas Iyer

Iyer became the first Indian batsman to score in excess of 200 runs in a three-match T20I series. He also became the second Indian after Virat Kohli to smash three 50-plus scores in a row. Kohli has achieved the feat a record three times in his career so far.

Shreyas termed his act of staying unbeaten in all three innings as a "commendable performance." He also touched upon the intense competition for places in the Indian set-up, stating that his focus is solely on maximizing whatever opportunities that come his way.

‘’Coming not out in all three games is a commendable performance from my side, I am not keeping any expectations, if you see competition in our team, it is immense. I just want to enjoy each and every opportunity. I like to finish off the games and that is my mindset. I cannot talk about cementing my place, competition is so much, you need to be flexible in batting at any position," he added.

There has been a lot of talk regarding his ’weakness' against the short ball but Shreyas asserted that it doesn’t bog him down.

‘’My mindset is to grab as many opportunities I can and I maximize it. I am playing like I used to, there has been no special preparation. Every player has their own strength and weakness, my mindset is to focus on my strengths. I do not get bogged down if people think short ball is my weakness." he added.

Shreyas ended up with 204 runs in three games with a staggering strike rate of 174.36 and will now look to continue his form in the Test series, starting on March 4.

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