Match report - Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul fireworks lead rout of Netherlands as India make it 9-in-a-row
Since we started the tournament, for us, it was all about thinking about one game at a time. We never wanted to look too far ahead because it's a long tournament. It was important to focus on one game. Different venues and we had to adapt, that's exactly what we did. Very pleased with how we have played in these nine games. Very clinical from game one till today. That's because different individuals have stepped up at different times. That's a good sign for the team. We know the conditions, but when you play different opponents, that's a different challenge. We adapted really well., We started four games in a row and then we had to bat first, seamers did the rest along with the spinners. It's important, results do matter to keep the dressing room environment lively. There's going to be a lot of expectations, we wanted to keep everything aside and focus on the job at hand. We wanted to play the game on the field with a lot of fun and that reflected on our performances. Today we had nine (bowling) options, it's important, this is the game where we could have tried. Seamers bowling those wide yorkers when not needed, but we wanted to do something different.
We played two good games of cricket, gave ourselves opportunities in other games which we'd have liked to win. Little bit tricky to say where we were compared to where we wanted to be. We were pretty confident with the style we play. We knew it's going to be a tough tournament. We've got a lot to learn, lot to get better before the T20 tournament next year. They showed pure class with the bat. There were periods where we bowled well, they just soaked up the pressure. They are going to be an extremely hard side to beat in this World Cup. We are a very young side, lot of young guys in the set-up, it is about growth for us. In terms of fixtures, not sure.
I got a deja vu, this happened with Australia too, but I threw my wicket away (not today though), but I wanted to come not out this time. I took pills for the cramps. I feel the recent scores helped me in this innings. The wicket was tacky and two-paced, I just wanted to capitalize on the start and I was able to do that. I have worked a lot on that (straight) shot, I was just trying to hit it straight. It's about keeping the head straight and about the follow through of the bat once I am trying to play the slog shot.
Not gotten a lot of time (in the middle) in the last two games, so it was nice to get some time today. Batting at 5, it's important to get that confidence, it was a good knock. Getting that confidence to hit sixes towards the end was important. It's not rocket science, got to go hard in the last 10 overs. Tried to get as many runs as possible, that was the plan, the ball gets softer, so hitting sixes at the back end becomes difficult. It's just not this game, everyone has a clear game plan, we have been executing it (our plans) pretty well. Need to win this game and look forward to the semis. It (keeping) gets difficult sometimes, but I enjoy being involved in the game, the bowlers have challenged me during DRS calls, but they don't give me enough credit (on DRS calls).