‘When you fear failure, you play to save’: Shreyas Iyer’s message to Indian team ahead of Zimbabwe T20Is

Shreyas Iyer (BCCI Photo) NEW DELHI: After a disappointing tour of England and Ireland, India captain Shreyas Iyer has made it clear that he does not want his players to carry the fear of failure into the T20I series against Zimbabwe.The Indian skipper said players should not worry about what people outside the dressing room say and should instead focus on expressing themselves freely. “I don’t think they should be afraid of failure because when you have those thoughts in the back of your mind, then you are playing for a save. When you don’t have that fear, you can bring out your best,” Iyer said ahead of the first T20I against Zimbabwe. “We don’t have to think too much about what people outside are saying. We have to stay in the present. The more we play good cricket and play together as a unit, the better it will be for the team,” he said.Iyer is under pressure after India failed to win a single white-ball match on the England-Ireland tour. India lost the two-match T20I series against Ireland 0-2 before suffering a 0-4 defeat against England in the five-match series.

Shreyas Iyer T20I batting record against teams

OppositionMatchesInningsRunsHighest ScoresAverage Strike Rate100s50sDucksFoursSixesAustralia44735324.33146.0001163Bangladesh331086254. 00183.0501078England111036780*45.87150.400303211Ireland2213106.5092.8500020New Zealand131122558*25.00124.300111410South Africa881164019.33113.7200067Sri Lanka9829674*59.20149.49031289West Indies8815761913191919Despite these results, Iyer believes that the difficult phase helped the team understand what they needed to improve.India are scheduled to play a three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe from Thursday. “We had a rough patch in England but there were a lot of positives from that. We learned what we need to build as a team going forward, the presence of mind, awareness and adaptability we need once we step on the field,” Iyer said.

New country, new challenge for Iyer

This is Iyer’s first tour of Zimbabwe and he has never played a T20I in the country before. He admitted that quick adaptation to the conditions will be key.“Some of us are playing here for the first time, so the quicker we adapt, the better results we will have,” he said.“It’s definitely very challenging. We arrived yesterday, today is training and tomorrow is the match. But it’s fun and if you perform well in those situations, you’ll definitely be happy with yourself. The results didn’t go our way, but it brought the team closer together. We had a lot of discussions about how we’re going to play as a unit going forward,” Iyer said.“It’s a great exposure because you don’t get that often. This is a tough phase and the faster you get through it, the better you become as a team,” the Indian skipper said.