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‘158 wasn’t enough’: Shreyas Iyer rues poor execution after England’s nine-wicket rout of India

Shreyas Iyer says India fell short in execution after England's 9-wicket win sealed the T20I series despite his unbeaten 80.

Sentinel Digital Desk

Bristol: Skipper Shreyas Iyer admitted his side India once again fell short in execution across departments after England sealed the T20I series with a dominant nine-wicket victory.

This is the first time England have beaten India in a bilateral T20I series of two or more games. India have won five of the previous six, while one ended in a draw. India’s last two defeats in a bilateral series against England (any format) had come on the 2018 tour (by 2-1 in ODIs and by 4-1 in Tests). Post then, until before the ongoing one, they had won eight out of 10, with the last two Test series in the country ending in draws (both 2-2).

“Again, it was a disappointing one. Definitely, 158 wasn’t the perfect total on the board. And eventually we saw how quickly they chased down. When we came on to bowling, I just asked our bowlers to repeat the lengths as much as possible because top of middle-stump and leg-stump, it was very difficult to hit and score boundaries off that. So I think we fell a bit short in terms of our execution. And, yeah, we saw that when we were changing the pace, when we were trying something else, they scored off those loose balls, Iyer said after the match.

Reflecting on his own performance, Iyer said personal performances mattered little without a victory. “Definitely happy with my performance, but see, if it’s not on the winning cause, it just goes to the side. So disappointed on that aspect because whenever I play, I want to perform and see to it that my team wins. But unfortunately, today wasn’t that day. Definitely look forward in the next game,” he said. IANS

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