'I think we could have won a bit earlier' - Shreyas Iyer rues not being more aggressive against Pakistan

The Men in Blue won another game convincingly in the Champions Trophy beating hosts Pakistan by six wickets. The Player of the Match was Virat Kohli for his splendid 100* off 111 balls. Shreyas Iyer provided a crucial contribution with him, forming a 114-run partnership to take India close to victory.

Though Iyer is known to have an attacking mindset he had a more watchful approach against Pakistan. He only started attacking at a later stage of the innings eventually finishing at 56 off 67 deliveries. Though the win seemed convincing enough Iyer still seemed unsatisfied since he believed that the match could have ended earlier if they had batted aggressively.

“I think we could have won a bit earlier. It would have been a convincing win,” Iyer said in the press conference after the match against Pakistan.

Hearing the response from Iyer, a journalist questioned the middle-order batter if a six-wicket win with more than seven overs left was not convincing enough for the player to which Iyer straightaway answered.

“But if we could have played more aggressively, we could have won a bit earlier," Iyer replied.

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It wasn't easy to take charge against Abrar: Shreyas Iyer

The only bowler who looked threatening from the Pakistan side was mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed. Iyer, who is considered one of the best players of spin bowling, was also kept quiet by the 26-year-old and the India batter even went on to praise him for an economical spell of 1/28 in his 10 overs which also included an incredible delivery that dismissed Shubman Gill.

“I think Abrar bowled brilliantly. It was important and crucial for me to play out that spell and rotate the strike at the same time. it took some time and then once my eyes were set, I thought that sweep and reverse sweep would have been a great option to put them on the back foot. And I think that worked pretty well for me,” Iyer said.

“It wasn't easy to take charge against Abrar. In that particular phase, it was important to take singles as much as possible, and take the team till the end. Once we reach 30 or 40 runs, it is easy to charge on from there,” Iyer added.