KL Rahul applauds Shreyas Iyer's heroics after the series win

India captain KL Rahul shared that the dressing room had some nervousness on the fourth day morning of the second Test in Dhaka before an unbeaten 71-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin took the team to the finish line to complete their 2-0 series victory in Bangladesh. Rahul also lauded Iyer, who played three key knocks in the series, playing a pivotal role in India’s win in both fixtures as well.

“Tough game. Happy that we got the job done. We were in a bit of trouble and there was a bit of pressure and nervousness in the dressing room. Really happy that Ashwin and Shreyas got that partnership that got us the victory. Conditions were tough and that is what makes Test cricket fun,” KL Rahul said after his team completed a tough 2-0 series victory in Dhaka on Sunday (December 25). “When someone is performing consistently for you, it is very heartening. He [Shreyas Iyer] has been around for a long time and has had to wait for his opportunities and really happy to see that when has had those opportunities, he has grabbed them with both hands.”

In the first Test in Chattogram, the game went away from Bangladesh when Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer came together at 112 for 4. Iyer scored 86 which allowed India to go ahead and post a total of 404 which helped India’s victory. He pulled off a similar effort in the second when Bangladesh reduced them to 94 for 4 in the first innings. Iyer then joined with Rishabh Pant to accumulate 159 runs for the sixth wicket. Along the way, he also scored 87 off 105, which included 10 fours and 2 sixes as well. He also hit an unbeaten 29 later and helped India win.

“He is doing the job for the team and the way he played today was phenomenal. He made it look really easy. There was pressure and there was a bit of panic in the dressing room. But it didn’t look like there was any panic when we were watching Shreyas bat,” KL Rahul said. “With Ashwin, he had a really good partnership. He has played really well in the last 15 months to two years. He has done really well for us and then he had the injury and went away for a bit. He had to really wait for his turn again and has been really patient. His journey hasn’t been easy. The way he is batting is phenomenal.”

However, KL Rahul also applauded Bangladesh that winning the ODI series and then troubling India in the longest format as well.

“[It was a] really good series. A lot of good experiences, a lot of learnings, losing the ODI series was not the greatest [feeling]. But sometimes a series loss does teach you a lot about where you stand as a team and as individuals. That is really important for us going into a 50-over World Cup. Even the Test series, it was hard fought. Bangladesh really played some very, very good cricket. They challenged us a lot. Even today, the best way to end the series. They made it really hard and they were in the game for the first 30-32 overs and then Ashwin and Shreyas put their hands up and did the job for us. It’s been a brilliant tour,” KL Rahul concluded.