Indian captain Shreyas Iyer praised Naman Dhir for his incredible performance against New Zealand in the first T20I at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Published: October 22, 2026, 6:54 PM IST
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Shreyas Iyer praised Naman Dhir for his heroics vs NZ (Image – BCCI)
Team India defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets in the first match of the T20I series, which was played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on ThursdayAfter the victory, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer hailed his side for an incredible performance in the opening clash.
Shreyas Iyer first lauded the Indian opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson for laying the foundation for the record chase of 226 against New Zealand in the T20I seriesTeam India had Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson to thank for a solid start as they went all guns blazing in this match.
Sanju Samson started the innings with some impressive shots and Abhishek Sharma followed the same mindsetDiscussing his knocks, Abhishek Sharma scored 29 runs off 12 balls, including 2 fours and 3 sixesMeanwhile, Sanju Samson scored 67 runs off 33 balls, including 8 fours and 4 sixes.
“They (Abhishek and Sanju) are absolutely experienced enoughYou don’t have to tell them how to go about their businessThey know exactly what they’re doing, and once they get going, it’s just about the momentum they carry forward, and today was just an example of that,” Shreyas Iyer said.
“So obviously it doesn’t happen every time, but once they click, you see that they set a game for us, and the rest of us, we just come and steady the ship and see to it that we finish off the game,” he added.
After that, Shreyas Iyer applauded Naman Dhir for his good performance and said that his ability to bowl off-spin makes him more useful at number seven.
“AbsolutelyHe gives us a lot of options, especially for lefty batsmen, or even the right-handers batting, especially on this ground, coming in and bowling those two-three crucial overs actually can change the momentumAnd I personally feel that the calm and composed nature that he showed today was simply magnificent to see him bat.”
New Zealand scored 225 runs for 4 wickets, making it a tough day for Indian bowlersAll the bowlers gave away more than 10 runs per overShreyas Iyer said they bowled too many full balls early in the matchLater, dew on the ground made bowling even harder.
“So when we started bowling, I thought it was playing a bit slowThe ball was holding a bit, and we bowled a little ahead compared to the hard lengths we should have been hittingBut as soon as the game progressed, we saw the dew coming in, and the wicket was skidding flatter as the ball was getting through and coming onto the bat pretty well,” he added.
“That’s how they got the momentum, and they reached 220Kudos to them for the efforts, but obviously we needed that kind of start, especially when you’re chasing 220, getting to 80-85 in six overs, that’s a tremendous start,” he added.
