Shreyas Iyer crossed the 1000 career ODI runs during the first ODI of the ongoing 3-match series against the West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
After Ravindra Jadeja was forced to withdraw from the first two ODIs due to a knee injury, Shreyas Iyer was named India’s vice-captain. Iyer entered the field to bat at No. 3 following the dismissal of promising opener Shubman Gill, who scored an amazing half-century with a strike rate of 121.
The right-hander hit a full-length ball over midwicket in the 36th over of India’s innings, bowled by spinner Gudakesh Motie, to score 1,000 ODI runs. He was out for 54 from 57 balls, which included five fours and two sixes, owing to Motie.
He completed the achievement in his 25th ODI innings and is now tied with former Indian batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu, who took the same number of innings to reach 1,000 ODI runs.
With 24 innings, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan reached this milestone the fastest. If we talk about the top 5 players of the list, Shreyas Iyer is at no.3, surpassing KL Rahul who is at no.5 on this list. Rahul has completed his 1000 ODI runs mark in 27 innings.
As of right now, Iyer has 1,001 runs at an average of 41.70 in his 25 innings throughout 28 games. In the 50-over format, he has one century and ten fifties, with a top score of 103.
India scored a challenging 308/7. For the Men in Blue to reach such a large total, half-centuries from skipper Shikhar Dhawan (97), Shubman Gill (64), and Shreyas Iyer (54), were crucial. The best bowler was Gudakesh Motie, who finished with 2/54 in 10 overs.
Half-centuries from Kyle Mayers (75) and Brandon King (54), in the pursuit of 309, helped the Windies stay in the contest. Romario Shepherd (39) and Akeal Hosein (32*) nearly got their team over the finish line, but the Indian bowlers remained composed to secure a nail-biting three-run victory. With 2/57 in 10 overs, Mohammed Siraj was India’s top bowler.
He successfully defended 15 runs in the final over to win the game for the team.
For his flawless knock of 99 balls 97, Shikhar Dhawan was awarded Man of the Match.
The second ODI will be played on Sunday, 24 july on the same ground at 7 PM IST.
