Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 8 : Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer opened up on his stunning comeback to international cricket this year, following his omission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Central Contract last year and how he disciplined himself when it came to playing domestic cricket for Mumbai.
Iyer, who played a crucial role in India's ICC Champions Trophy win, finished as the second-highest run-getter overall with 243 runs in five innings at an average of 48.60 with two fifties and best score of 79, received a memento at the CEAT Cricket Ratings Awards in Mumbai for his contributions in what was Men in Blue's second successive white-ball title in less than an year after ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Speaking on his journey from being left out of contract list to lifting the CT title, during which he won an Indian Premier League (IPL) with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as captain last year, secured Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Mumbai, the latter as captain, Iyer said that it was a "rollercoaster ride" and things looked "in shambles and helter skelter" earlier.
"But I told myself to set a routine, discipline myself and play domestic cricket. I went back to my time in Mumbai, played the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I performed in all these tournaments, and they helped me boost my momentum and confidence heading into CT. Then I was lucky to have played in ODIs against England and stamp my authority there (scoring 181 runs in three matches with two fifties at an average of over 60 and a strike rate of over 123)," said Iyer.
Speaking about his philosophy towards ODI cricket, Iyer said that he loves playing the situation and putting himself in pressure situations.
"During the CT, I was in a position where I had to play ball to ball in the start and then put myself in pressure and charge against bowlers. We thought in Dubai, 250-300 was a winnable total. My job was to take the team to that total, and then after that, let us see what happens. Looking at the line-up, our bowlers, we had immense confidence that we would be able to defend. We were also confident of chasing," recalled the middle-order powerhouse.
Iyer also pointed out how, over the last two years, critics talked about him not being able to play a certain shot, pointing out his weakness against pulling a short ball. When he came back to ODIs this year, the work put in was evident as short-pitched deliveries from Jofra Archer and Mark Wood were disdainfully sent into the stands
Over the last two years, there were talks about me that I could not play a certain shot, and when I came back, I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I worked on myself, wanted to take on the bowlers and it was just I, had to challenge myself to put myself in that pressure situation to take on the bowlers. It is a matter of practice. The more you hit that shot, practice against difficult bowlers, the more confident you get," he concluded.
Iyer will now be seen in action during the three-match ODI series against Australia, which will take place away from home from October 19 onwards. He has played three ODIs in Australia, scoring 59 runs in three innings at an average of 19.66 and best score of 38.
This year in eight ODIs, he has made 424 runs in eight innings at an average of 53.00 and a strike rate of 93.59, with four fifties and a best score of 79.