Mount Maunganui, Nov 15 (PTI) India captain Shreyas Iyer on Sunday said the New Zealand series was not one for batsmen, praising his bowlers for standing up to the occasion and delivering under challenging conditions to secure victories in both the T20I and ODI formats.
"If you see the whole series, it wasn’t a series for batsmen. The way the bowlers bowled, they stood up to the occasion and definitely were confident enough to see to it that they would get the team through irrespective of the conditions," Iyer said after India clinched the five-match ODI series 3-1 with a 22-run win in the final match.
India defended a modest total of 209, with pacers Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj leading the charge against the hosts. One match was washed out.
"I think that’s the mindset of all the players that we need and the character each and every individual possesses. It’s top notch," he added.
The visitors had to contend with seaming conditions, small boundaries and frequent weather interruptions, while their top order struggled to provide solid starts. The challenge was further compounded by changes in personnel, with Shubman Gill and pacer Gurnoor Brar among those who left midway to join the Test team ahead of the upcoming series.
Iyer admitted that frequent changes could make things challenging for players but said the team was determined not to use the circumstances as an excuse.
"Yes, absolutely. It, at some point of time, becomes challenging for the players when there’s chopping and changing. They need to acclimatise to the condition and adapt. But we didn’t want to give any excuse. We just wanted to live up to our expectations, and every individual was just willing to come out here and give his best," he said.
India had suffered another early collapse in the final ODI, losing their top three cheaply, before useful contributions from Axar Patel and Ishan Kishan helped the side post a competitive total.
Iyer said winning both the T20I and ODI series despite the varying conditions had strengthened the team's belief in its ability to turn games around from difficult situations.
"Both the series T20 and ODI coming over here, we were provided with different conditions. The weather kept changing. Faced a lot of challenges and coming out triumphant, it's a great achievement. And today we had that certain kind of belief even though we didn’t get that many runs in batting. But still we were hoping that we can change the game at any point of time," he said.
"And I’m glad that every individual thought in the same direction and we were able to execute that."
Arshdeep, who was named Player of the Match, said the bowling unit had stuck to its plans and maintained discipline despite having a modest total to defend.
"We kept coming (back) and we were very disciplined with our areas. We didn’t let go of that thing even when we were not getting the results, we were not getting the wickets. But we kept bowling that and eventually got the results and yes, we won," he said.
The left-arm pacer, who recently got engaged and was traded by Punjab Kings to Mumbai Indians, said he was grateful for the support he had received off the field.
"God has been really grateful and kind to me. I’ve got a really nice partner. She’s very supportive and always helps me stay in the right mindset. So yes, a lot credit goes to her as well, the way I am on the field depends a lot on how I’m working off the field. So yes, it’s been very exciting and I’m loving it," he said.
Arshdeep has also drawn praise for his useful cameos with the bat lower down the order. Dismissing suggestions that he was wary of batting, the pacer said he actually enjoyed his time in the middle.
"I love my batting. Even if I’m batting at eleven, I enjoy it. And always trying to create room for myself and smash it. But some people on my team say that I’m scared of the ball. But I take it. I create room," he said.
Arshdeep said Siraj had reminded him of the importance of adding runs in the final overs.
"(Today) Siraj told me that these runs (at the fag end) will be very crucial. And we made sure we went above 200 and that was a little thought in mind: we had crossed a small milestone there and had some runs to bowl at," he added.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)