Shreyas Iyer seems to have hit the purple patch with the bat and it’s a great sign for the Indian team, given the fact that the next T20 World Cup is just months away. Shreyas on Sunday notched up his third consecutive half-century in the shortest format to help India whitewash Sri Lanka in the three-match series.

The in-form batter, who hit nine fours and one six in his 45-ball 73, remained unbeaten in the T20I series. He had registered unbeaten scores of 57 and 74 in India’s first two wins and the right-handed batter continued his phenomenal run in the third game too.

Shreyas had a topsy-turvy ride last year after undergoing surgery that kept him out of action for a significant amount of time. He has flourished since his return and his 200-plus runs against Sri Lanka is a testament to his batting prowess. With his run-scoring spree, Shreyas has also surpassed former skipper Virat Kohli on the list of most runs by an Indian batter in a three-T20I bilateral series. Kohli previously held the record with 199 runs against Australia back in the 2015/16 series. Kohli had also hit three half-centuries at a strike rate of 160.48.

Most runs in 3-match T20I series for India:

204 – Shreyas Iyer vs Sri Lanka in 2022

199 – Virat Kohli vs Australia in 2016

183 – Virat Kohli vs West Indies in 2019

164 – KL Rahul vs West Indies in 2019

159 – Rohit Sharma vs New Zealand in 2021

Interestingly, only David Warner has scored more runs than Shreyas in a three-match bilateral T20I series. The Australian opener had hit 217 runs in three innings against Sri Lanka in 2019, which included two half-centuries and a ton.

Talking about scoring a hat-trick of fifties in the shortest format, Shreyas is the fourth Indian batter to achieve the feat. Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have already ticked off the milestone. But when it comes to the bilateral T20I series, Shreyas is only the second Indian cricketer after Kohli to hit three consecutive half-centuries.

As India completed the series sweep and recorded their 12th straight T20I win to equal Afghanistan’s record, Shreyas described his fifty in the second game as extra special. He also weighed in on his long injury lay-off and said it just takes one ball for him to get into form.

“Obviously, all three fifties were special for me. Yesterday, winning the series…so yeah the last one (2nd T20I),” Shreyas said.

“To be honest, you require just one ball to get in form. I’m really happy with whatever opportunities I got this series. The wicket was a bit two-paced today and I was playing on merit and trying to punish the loose balls. You just have to back your instincts and be positive.”

“It has been a roller-coaster journey for me from injury. To come out of injury and perform at this level is really heartening for me,” concluded the 27-year-old batter.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times