Shreyas Iyer opened up about captaincy, and the thrills and joy that leadership brings him.
Shreyas Iyer, despite making his India debut in 2017, remains an enigma. The guy’s got everything: charisma, talent and the right attitude. The one factor he lacks, however, is luck. Every time Iyer is destined to do anything good, something comes along the way that derails his progress. Iyer was India’s marathon man in the 2023 World Cup. You thought he would be there forever. But a back injury, followed by BCCI’s decision to strip him from the Central Contracts, spiralled him down in the pecking order. This, when he’s hardly put a foot wrong. Yes, short balls seemed to be his undoing, but he’s worked hard on that aspect and looks a lot more assured against them.
Nonetheless, as always, Shreyas Iyer has once again risen from the ashes. So much so that if a senior BCCI official is to be believed, he has joined India’s captaincy race, officially challenging Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as India’s next in command in white-ball formats. Iyer is hot on the heels of a mighty successful season with Punjab Kings, and with Rohit pushing 40, Iyer could well replace him as India’s next ODI captain. In 2020, he led Delhi Capitals to the final of the IPL for the first time, and four years later, shepherded Kolkata Knight Riders’ third title win before taking PBKS one step short of glory.
Such is Iyer’s form that he is likely to be part of India’s T20I and Test set-up, and once he does, the leadership group promises to become that much stronger. Currently captaining in the Mumbai T20 League, Iyer is on the money right away, leading his team, Sobo Mumbai Falcons, to the semi-final of the tournament. Opening up on the importance of captaincy and what it means to him, Iyer went candid, saying he loves the challenge.
“It (captaincy) brings in a lot of maturity and responsibility. You are always expected to perform and contribute in the best way possible for the team because whenever there is a hurdle or some kind of adversity you face as a team, they always come to the captain. I think I have got a lot of experience as I have been captaining since I was 22. I have enjoyed the moments and also embraced it. I love the fact to come out and lead, ” Iyer said on the sidelines of the T20 Mumbai League.
“I just keep telling myself…”
Shreyas, 30, has joined Indian stars such as Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube in the T20 Mumbai League, a prominent domestic franchise-based tournament. Iyer shared that he thrives in high-pressure situations, drawing motivation to deliver his best performances and also expressed joy in playing alongside familiar teammates from his childhood cricketing days, which adds a special sense of camaraderie to the tournament.
“I just try to get into my zone, and I try to do things which are there in front of me. I try to stay focused as much as possible, just stay in the present, embrace the situation, embrace the crowd because sometimes they get very electrifying and pass on the energy to you. So I keep telling myself that I want the crowd to cheer my name, and that brings that kind of motivation,” he said.
