The efficiency of India’s top order makes batting in limited overs a tough act to follow for those who come in after the first three. The top three’s dominance means that they get little game time.

On the rare occasion when they do get overs when the openers and Virat Kohli fall cheaply they struggle to cope. It is a difficult problem to address, India batting coach Vikram Rathour had said in Chennai.

“We have enough depth now to keep batting throughout the innings with a lot of intent,” said Rathour. One day later, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant walked Rathour’s talk adding 114 in 113 balls for the fourth wicket.

Not hitting an aerial shot till the 76th ball he faced, which was dispatched for a six, Iyer made 70 from 88 balls. With responsibility comes restraint, he said here on Saturday.

“I was a flamboyant player when I started playing first-class cricket. I never used to take responsibility. I would back my instincts and go with the flow. Lately, I’ve realised that once you play at the highest level, you got to take that maturity to another stage. You have to play according to what the team demands. And that’s what I did the other day .

Iyer followed up his score in Chennai with 53 in Visakhapatnam. It was an innings that began with Iyer allowing Rohit Sharma take most of the strike. After Sharma fell, Iyer scored 35 from 15 balls. His innings had three fours and four sixes. All four over-boundaries came in the 47th over bowled by off-spinner Roston Chase, Iyer also hitting a four off the fourth ball. Chase went for 31, Iyer scoring 28 of them. “In the last four-five overs we let it get away and that is where we lost the game,” said .