Shreyas Iyer’s 2024 has been a rollercoaster ride, filled with both setbacks and triumphs. After being dropped from the Test side and losing his BCCI central contract, Iyer bounced back to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title and win the Ranji Trophy with Mumbai.
Iyer’s biggest challenge this season was to overcome back issues and regain his fitness. He embarked on a rigorous training regimen, focusing on long-distance running and pushing his body to its limits. The results were evident in his performances, as he scored four half-centuries and a century in his last 11 innings.
His century against Maharashtra was particularly significant, as it was his first in first-class cricket in nearly three years. Iyer expressed his delight at the achievement, saying, “Coming back after a very long time, obviously I was feeling a bit down with my injuries, but now getting a century after a very long time, it’s a great feeling.”
Iyer is now eager to make a Test comeback, but he acknowledges that his fitness will be a key factor. He said, “I am absolutely keen for a [Test] comeback but yeah, as we say, control the controllables and my job is to keep performing and keep participating as much as possible and also see with that my body is in best shape.”
Iyer revealed that he had doubts about his back injury recurring after his surgery last year. However, he has since overcome those fears through intensive training. He said, “There was this phase where I was feeling that it might occur again. But yeah, I trained a lot to see to it that I have optimum fitness and obviously it comes here and there, but now my capacity has improved a lot.”
Iyer’s fitness issues have led to some inaccurate perceptions about his ability to play Test cricket. He said, “See, I had addressed my feeling during the longer format and things didn’t go my way. But I’ve also addressed it in the previous interviews I’ve given and I’m in a good space right now.”
Iyer has also had to adjust his approach to the red-ball format, given the defensive fields teams now employ. He said, “Nowadays when the teams come up, they straightaway put a defensive field right from ball one. So I was just trying to take some time, in between trying to play more balls than scoring shots, so that was my plan.”
Despite the challenges, Iyer remains optimistic about his future. He said, “You win three championships in a year, and what else can you ask for? All I see is the positive things over here and that is winning the trophy and that’s what I want.”
