Flamboyant India batsman Shreyas Iyer scripted history with another half-century in the second Test against Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. On a turning track, Iyer scored a brilliant 92 in the first innings, where no Indian batsman failed to score 50, scoring another half-century in the second innings. He scored 67 off 87 balls before being dismissed by Lasith Embuldeniya.
With two half-centuries in the same match, Iyer became the first Indian batsman to register a score of over fifty in both innings of a day-night Test. While overall he became the fourth batsman after Darren Bravo, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to do so.
Scores of more than 50 in both innings of Day-Night Test
87 & 116 – Darren Bravo vs Pak Dubai 2016
130 & 63 – Steve Smith vs Pak Brisbane 2016
143 and 50 – Marnus Labuschagne v New Zealand Perth 2019
103 and 51 – Marnus Labuschagne v England Adelaide 2021
92 & 67 – Shreyas Iyer vs SL Bengaluru 2022
Iyer was instrumental in putting India in a comfortable position as the hosts are currently enjoying an upper hand as Sri Lanka need 419 runs with 9 wickets to spare.
The 27-year-old missed a well-deserved century in the first innings. He expressed dismay at missing out on a second Test century, but was extremely happy to contribute to the team’s total when things were getting tough to score.
“I am disappointed that I missed out on a century, but if you look from the team’s point of view, we got a very fighting total, which is 250, especially on this wicket. And seriously I have no regrets. When I play on the field, I play for the team, not for myself. The results have been really helpful for me and my teammates, the captain, the coach, everyone and that’s what really matters,” Iyer said in the post-match press conference.
“And I thought fifty was like a century because I celebrated it was like a century for me,” he said.
Shreyas made excellent use of his footwork during his innings. He often charged the wicket, especially against the spinners, to negate the turn.
“When I went out to bat my plan was to reduce the spin (negative turn), so I decided to get out. When I was standing on the middle stump, I was cutting the entire wicket so that I could cover the spin and take a single in the mid-wicket area and when I do that, I feel confident. When you go out, you play with the bowler’s mind and spoil his line and length.
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