Shreyas Iyer's Special Inscription on His Bat Steals Hearts During IND vs NZ in ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Photo : Twitter
Shreyas Iyer produced a well-composed fluent fifty under pressure as New Zealand restricted India to 249/9 in their Champions Trophy Group A match on Sunday. Led by pacer Mark Henry, the Kiwis stifled India on a sluggish surface in Dubai. Iyer, who scored 79 off 98 balls, was the only shining light as he forged a fine partnership of 98 runs with Axar Patel (42 off 61 balls) as India brought semblance to their batting order after their top order departed in quick succession. Later, Hardik Pandya (45 off 45) played a quick-fire innings towards the end to help India survive a top-order meltdown.
It was a slightly different situation for Iyer as, in the last few matches, the top three batters had given him the cushion of runs.
It had enabled him to bat with some degree of freedom in those matches. But here, he had to build the innings from scratch, and he did that job with perfection while making fifty off 75 balls with a single off Rachin Ravindra.
The natural flair was on show on occasions as Iyer once lofted pacer Will O’Rourke for a six-over-long one, and Axar gave him excellent company on a rather slow pitch.
A century was there for the taking for Iyer but a feeble pull off O’Rourke was gobbled by up Young inside the covers.
However, hawk-eyed fans spotted a rather interesting mark on Iyer's mark. Iyer was using a bat with Rohit Sharma’s CEAT branding, which had ‘HITMAN’ written at the top. This raised curiosity about whether he was playing with Rohit’s bat. It also captivated the fan's attention and added an intriguing layer to the match.
This is not the first time that Iyer has played a meaningful knock against New Zealand. His 105 off 70 balls in the 2024 World Cup Semis against NZ was one of the finest ODI knocks. It is not talked about as much as it should have been but it was a great ODI knock.
(With PTI Inputs)
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