'I tried to bribe Bumrah but it didn't work for me...'
Shreyas Iyer revealed he tried to convince the stand-in-captain Jasprit Bumrah to let him have a bowl in the first T20 International against Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Thursday.
Iyer smashed a quickfire 57 not out from 28 balls, while Ishan Kishan blasted 89 from 56 balls as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the series opener.
"I wasn't thinking a lot, thought 180 was a good total, was just looking to watch the ball closely and then played my shot," Iyer said afer the match.
The Mumbai right-hander further stated how he tried to convince Jasprit Bumrah, who was leading the team temporarily after Rohit Sharma took a small break during the Sri Lankan innings, to let him bowl a few overs of part-time spin.
"I had already put my hand up (for a bowl). Around the 16th over when he (Rohit Sharma) went in, he had already told (Jasprit) Bumrah these are the bowlers who need to bowl. I tried to bribe Bumrah but it didn't work for me (laughs)," he added.
Iyer, who is fighting to seal a place in the middle order for the T20 World Cup later this year, said he was looking to bat positively once he got his eye in.
"Once I got going, I wanted to play my shots and keep the intent going, just wanted to play my shots. He (Ishan Kishan) wasn't able to time (in the middle overs), was losing patience. I just told him to take his time, look for twos and threes. Our plan was to hit the pockets, initially, that's what we did, and things came out pretty well for us. Coming from Kolkata, this ground had different dimensions."
