Iyer lauds Kohli’s knock, Rizwan blames batsmen for loss vs India

 Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

India’s middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer lauded Virat Kohli’s knock of 100 runs against arch-rivals Pakistan in their Champions Trophy ODI match in Dubai on Sunday.

Kohli heralded his return to form in style with a cracking century and led the chase from the front.

After restricting Pakistan to 241, India chased down the target for the loss of four wickets as Kohli smashed 100 off 111 balls.

India had lost two wickets with 100 runs on the board before Iyer and Kohli took the charge in their hands and shared a 114-run partnership to take the equation down to 28 needed off 70 balls.

Kohli was going through a rough patch before this innings, which raised many eyebrows in the fraternity.

But the swashbuckling batsman gave a befitting reply to his critics with yet another century that too in the most important match of the tournament.

“See, I've never thought of Virat struggling for runs. It's just the mindset that he possesses over the years. He's always hungry for runs and I remember yesterday he had come almost an hour before us for the practice session.

“He played a few balls, and he was looking -- from outside he looked as crisp as he looks all the time. So, I never feel that he's struggling for runs, to be honest,” said Iyer, who also smacked a fifty in the match.

An India-Pakistan match is deemed as a  high-octane, high-voltage clash. It is the most-watched sporting event on the planet, often crossing a viewership of more than a billion.

Iyer also praised the Indian bowlers, who did a wonderful job to thwart Pakistan to 241. At one stage, Pakistan looked set to post 280 plus when Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan were batting.

Axar Patel broke the partnership by uprooting the stumps of Rizwan to pave the way for the others.

The dismissal of Rizwan opened the floodgates for Indian bowlers as Kuldeep Yadav ripped through the middle-order, reducing Pakistan from 150/2 to 165/5.

“Our bowlers bowled tremendously, especially in the middle phase where the ball was turning and also helping a bit. As we know, even in the previous game when we played over here, the wicket was a bit slow.

“It's spinner-friendly, of course, and the way they've been bowling consistently over a period of time, I think the amalgamation of all three bowlers mixing up quite well - with also the experience that they possess. I think that brings a lot of clarity in their bowling,” added Shreyas.

He praised Pakistan’s spinner Abrar Ahmed who conceded only 28 runs in his ten overs, picking up the wicket of Shubman Gill.

“See, I never thought that I would be charging the spinners. As I mentioned, Abrar bowled brilliantly and it wasn't easy to take charge against him.

“And in that particular phase, it was crucial to take singles as much as possible and take the team and the game till the end so that once we reach the 30 or 40 runs mark and if we have wickets in hand it is easy to charge on from there on,” he added.

Captain Mohammad Rizwan attributed the loss to the failure of Pakistan’s middle –order batsmen, who failed to handle the pressure in the pressure-cooker game.

The loss became the reason for Pakistan’s early exit from the tournament. It is for the first time that the hosts have been ousted from the Champions Trophy within the five days of the kick-off.

Rizwan, who scored 46 and shared a 104-run stand with Saud Shakeel (62), claimed his team paid the price for failing to build on the partnerships.

"The middle order wasn't good enough. We failed to build the partnerships and threw our wickets in bulks. We had discussed that on this pitch around 270-280 would be enough.

"Saud and I tried to build a partnership and consumed a lot of time, but after that the shot selection was poor. That's where the Indian bowlers got a chance to take our wickets. Our middle-order couldn't soak the pressure,” said Rizwan.

"The reality is that India and New Zealand defeated us. They played strongly and we didn't play well,” he concluded.