The newly-appointed Kolkata Knight Riders captain struck three consecutive unbeaten half-centuries in the recently concluded Sri Lanka series.
Shreyas Iyer has had a fantastic start to 2022, most recently cracking three unbeaten half-centuries in as many games, as he played a starring role in India’s 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in the recently concluded T20I series. With the T20 World Cup in Australia fast approaching, Iyer has provided the selectors with a unique dilemma, staking a firm claim to one of the middle-order positions for which there is already a lot of competition.
Additionally, with middle-order veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane seemingly out of the picture for the Test match side at least for the near future, Iyer will be looking to fill one of those positions, especially after his excellent showing against New Zealand in late 2021. The 27-year old has also been picked up by KKR for Rs 12.25 Crore, and has also been announced as captain of the side.
While it appears that Iyer has had a perfect 2022 so far, Iyer’s side of the story reveals a struggle with a horrible stomach infection in South Africa, which he called “the worst phase of his life”. The 27-year-old said that he lost seven kilograms as a result of the illness:
“I wouldn’t say the best start to the year, but yes, a decent one. Why not great? I had a very bad stomach infection at the start of the year when we were in South Africa. I lost seven kilos there. Basically, whatever I was eating, it was coming out. It was one of the worst phases of my life.”
He also spoke fondly of his experience in the Sri Lanka series, adding that he enjoyed the freedom he got at the number three slot, and said that the position gave him a lot of freedom, especially considering that the Indian batting line-up has a lot of depth. He said that even if the team were a few runs short at a given stage, the batsmen could play their natural game with the quality of batsmen waiting in the ranks.
“Yeah, it felt very good. The start, which I got, was really amazing. I told myself I am just going to play with full freedom because now we have such depth in our batting line-up that it gives us more freedom to go and express ourselves. Even if we are a few runs down, the intent has to be very positive,”
Iyer concluded.
