In a ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’ act, Shreyas Iyer helped India post a score of 124/7 in the first T20I against England at the Motera Stadium.
The Mumbai-born batsman registered his highest score in T20I cricket and ensured that India, who were made to bat first upon losing the toss, could post a respectable score on the board.
The Men in Blue were reduced to 20/3 within the first five overs, with captain Virat Kohli being bowled out for a duck. Twitter didn’t sit idle as they quickly slammed the 32-year-old for his second successive duck at the venue, following his duck in the fourth Test.
Duck for Virat Kohli in 4th Test and 1st T20 against England.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 12, 2021
28th duck in Int'ls for Virat Kohli (Tests 12, ODIs 13, T20Is 3). 2nd consecutive duck in Int'ls & 3rd duck in last 5 Int'l inns. Kohli has not scored an Int'l century in his last 37 inns, last Int'l century was v Bangladesh in India on 23rd Nov 2019. Massively Overrated #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) March 12, 2021
virat kohli is out
— dangerdangerhermionegranger (@mg173_) March 12, 2021
what the duck did I even expect
Coming into bat at the start of the 6th over, Iyer smacked eight boundaries and one six while stitching a partnership of 54 with Hardik Pandya.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to his innings
Well played Champ, @ShreyasIyer15! 👏
— Team Shreyas Iyer (@TeamShreyas) March 12, 2021
India was 20 for 3 from 5 overs then he scored 67 runs from 48 balls including 8 fours and 1 sixes when there wasn't much support from other end. #INDvENG #shreyasiyer pic.twitter.com/TXsr4RdHls
What a beauty of two shots form Shreyas Iyer, switching gears now, batting on 50 of 36 when nobody hung around him. Superb innings and a tough conditions. Needs to finish the innings well and help India reach a respectable score. #INDvsEND #Cricket #t20
— Bunny.🐇 (@bunnyissmm) March 12, 2021
https://twitter.com/cricket_broken/status/1370387091016798208
Earlier, Rishabh Pant made a valuable contribution with the bat - 21 runs off 23 balls - and sent Twitter into a frenzy as he reverse-flicked a Jofra Archer delivery for a six.
I'm a Rishabh pant and I don't care who you are", jofra, Anderson, Cummins or Starc. 🔥pic.twitter.com/bRW2PNqE17
— श्लोक ॐ (@DidyouknowVirat) March 12, 2021
Rishabh Pant today, once he saw the new ball: pic.twitter.com/iqbF1IERRF
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 5, 2021
This is the new generation !! Absolutely fearless ! Reverse sweep or shot I don’t know what to call it ! But @RishabhPant17 hats off to you to hit a fast bowler like that ! Game on !! #IndiavsEnglandT20
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) March 12, 2021
Feature image courtesy: Jewel Samad
