The journey of Shreyas Iyer has been quite eventful in the last few months and is trending up to date. Though, as an opener, his performance as a batsman has been more than good, his captaincy takes the cake.
Shreyas Iyer was set to feature in the proposed five-test series in India against England, which is reputed for its batting prowess against spin. It is for this very reason that when England came with its inexperienced spinners, including Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley, and Rehan Ahmed, apart from the injured Jack Leach, Iyer had the spin-friendly conditions made for him.
A Challenging Test Series Against England
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Nonetheless, this particular turn of events was not in the script. Shreyas Iyer’s scores in the first four innings were disappointing. Here is their encounter with left-handed spinners. Thirty-five wickets, thirteen at home, twenty-seven abroad, and twenty-nine in the sevens format. The selectors persisted with Shreyas Iyer despite dropping him for the final three Tests due to poor form, which saw him amass a mere 83 runs in his last eight innings, exacerbated by the absence of Kohli and Rahul.
Selection Between the IPL and Ranji Trophy
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In the event, prudence might well have argued for a return to the familiar first-class arena for Mumbai. But Shreyas Iyer’s long-standing back problem resurfaced and threatened to rule him out of the one-day World Cup last year. In an interview, Iyer said that he has been regularly getting the Indian team and even the NCA to clear him, only to find that his back issues are still an issue when it comes to front-foot stride.
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The World Cup Yuvraj Singh attracted controversy with his decision of deciding not to play in the Ranji Trophy for his domestic team and joining the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the IPL 2024.
Therefore, the BCCI omitted him from the centrally contracted player list on February 28th, indicating that ignoring domestic cricket might come at a cost. However, he went back to the Ranji final, and though he made a second-inning 95, the damage had been done.
This opportunity was the IPL for Shreyas Iyer in more than one way, and it really helped him turn things around for himself. He had suffered a back injury and therefore failed to feature in the previous season, but when he came back, it was obvious that he had something to prove. Shreyas Iyer returned to KKR and connected with the franchise’s mentor and former captain, Gautam Gambhir, and, in another IPL, led his team to the third IPL championship.
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Shreyas Iyer Leadership and Strategic Management
Though his bowling was excellent, his hard-hitting with the bat was also reasonable; scoring 351 runs in 239 balls with a strike rate of 146.86 was perhaps the standout captaincy of the team by Shreyas Iyer. Even in conditions like Mitchell Starc’s early zip costing him more and Varun Chakravarthy coming off a poor season, Iyer showed great balance while handling bowlers.
His sympathetic behavior toward Starc really brought back his mojo, and he smartly used Indian youngster quickies Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana to focus purely on wickets rather than establishing a cramped line. A good example was his ability to use tactics in his field placements and when explaining his strategies to his bowlers.
Also read: Unusual: Wasim Akram Joins Gavaskar and Pathan in Criticizing England for IPL 2024 Playoff Exits
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