India captain Shreyas Iyer credited interim head coach VVS Laxman for keeping the squad motivated during India’s T20I series against Zimbabwe, while the batting legend praised the skipper’s self-belief and leadership following their clean sweep in Harare.
India wrapped up the three-match series 3-0 with a 35-run victory in the final T20I on Sunday. Despite missing several first-choice players, including Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, the relatively inexperienced side dominated Zimbabwe throughout the contest.
In a video shared by the BCCI after the series, Laxman highlighted Iyer’s resilience after a difficult beginning to his stint as India’s T20 captain.
“I would like to specially congratulate Shreyas because he had
a rough start to his captaincy career but the way he came back, right from the first day when he joined us one day before the first game, he was very optimistic,” Laxman said, referring to India’s 0-4 T20I series defeat in England earlier this month, which marked Iyer’s first assignment as captain.
Laxman also underlined the challenge of leading a squad that featured several fresh faces and credited Iyer for bringing the group together.
“It’s a new group of players. We know that only four or five of those who were there in England joined us on this tour. But he was so confident and a lot of credit for this victory should be given to the captain, the way he encouraged each one of you,” he added.
Iyer, in turn, acknowledged Laxman’s contribution during the series. Laxman took charge of the team in the absence of regular head coach Gautam Gambhir, who was given a break after India’s demanding tour of the UK.
Gambhir is set to return for the Test tour of Sri Lanka in August.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Iyer said India had produced an almost complete display across the three matches.
“I think we were flawless, honestly speaking, throughout the series barring the catches that we dropped. It was a phenomenal effort by everyone in the team, including the support staff,” Iyer said.
“Thank you VVS sir for motivating us and inspiring us. Each and every day when we stepped onto the field, I think everything that you mentioned was apt and we could relate to it. So, thank you so much,” he added.
Laxman currently heads the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and regularly steps in as interim coach for short international assignments whenever required.
