NEW DELHI: A little over a year ago, Shreyas Iyer was radiating confidence when he settled into the chair to address the media ahead of the IPL 2024 final in Chennai. His slow walk, cap dropping below his eyeline, and his favourite Guns N’ Roses track playing on his phone. The yellow sneakers shone as brightly as the pair of solitaires in his ears and the impromptu ‘See You Again’ (song by Wiz Khalifa) greeting to his opposite number Pat Cummins eased the room before everyone got down to business.The build-up for that season was far from ideal for the right-hander; he had lost his central contract, wasn’t considered ‘serious’ for the game and fell off the radar despite a stellar 2023 ODI World Cup campaign. He repeatedly mentioned that his back needed attention, but no one listened. His inability to convert starts in the first two home Tests against England in 2024 led the selectors to make the tough call. He mentioned the discomfort in his back again while playing long innings but the rumour mill worked overtime to establish that he was not ‘serious’. “Did you see his run-out of Ben Stokes?” they would add but Iyer chose to ignore the outside noise and, as the cliche goes, control the controllables.An IPL title with Kolkata Knight Riders followed but normalcy was still far from creeping into his career. His bat continued to rage in the domestic circuit but the selectors found “no room” for him in the Test and T20I squads. Leading up to the 2025 Champions Trophy, he wasn’t in the team’s original Playing XI plans. However, when an opportunity arose due to Virat Kohli‘s niggle in the preceding bilateral series, Iyer made it count. He nonchalantly revealed the late call-up after a brisk half-century.The Champions Trophy happened, he did his thing during the celebrations and returned from Dubai with the winner’s medal and the tag of India’s unsung MVP. On sluggish surfaces, he was the glue which held the middle-order together and played a leading role in helping India win another ICC title.
Months later, he embraced the Punjab Kings challenge in the IPL and enhanced his reputation as the leader who doesn’t just talk, but walks the talk. Another IPL final as captain meant he was making life difficult for the selectors.Conversations about rewarding his leadership grew louder in the BCCI corridors and his strong domestic performances helped significantly. Every time an India squad didn’t feature his name, the outcry was unreal and it wasn’t restricted to just the T20I format. His strong outings for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy kept him in Test conversations but this momentum faced a screeching halt when he had to take the tough call of stepping away from the multi-day grind. It came at the risk of being judged, again, but he chose his well-being, having figured his back wouldn’t support it.Then came the elevation as ODI vice-captain, followed by the nasty near-fatal fall in Australia while taking a sensational catch during the ODI series. When everything was finally getting on track, destiny chose a different route, putting him on a hospital bed in a different country and away from cricket. The initial estimate put him away from cricket for months, where he missed the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Mumbai – a tournament which could have helped him make more noise regarding T20I selection before the World Cup.He switched off, went on holidays with his close friends and returned determined to hit the ground running when there were no red flags from the medical team. Strength training resumed, running started, and after a couple of net sessions with childhood coach Pravin Amre, he checked into the BCCI CoE hoping to get clearance for the ODI series against New Zealand.“I want to get that clearance and get back to playing cricket. I will only leave Bengaluru with the clearance,” he said to his inner circle as he spent the New Year’s Eve alone in a hotel. Just when everything seemed to be on track, he ran into another hurdle as the Return To Play process neared the selection day. The BCCI medical team was following the parameters for multi-day cricket and only after Iyer reminded them he wasn’t playing that format did the stakeholders agree to give him the necessary nod, subject to fitness clearance. With formalities complete, his comeback happened, as did his return to the T20I squad as a backup but the wait to feature in the shortest format was going to be longer.Suryakumar Yadav led India to the title but his batting form and the selectors’ planning before the T20 World Cup kept Iyer in conversations. The elevation in the fifty-over leadership set-up was part of the big picture Ajit Agarkar & Co. were focusing on. Another strong start for Punjab Kings, coupled with his consistency at No.4, made the decision-makers read the writing on the wall.Nearly a month before the selection meeting for the Ireland and England T20Is, a consensus was reached on moving on from Surya and Iyer got the nod. Even Punjab Kings’ late slump wasn’t going to change their mind. They arrived at the decision after considering his performance in the last two seasons with the bat and as captain. Other options were on the table but none came close.The rumour mill, though, returned in overdrive, and suggestions were made that head coach Gautam Gambhir wasn’t in favour of Iyer’s appointment. The 2024 season of KKR was used to back the claims as Iyer, unapologetically, had mentioned how he never got the credit for the title win.The mindset, however, never changed. It was always about winning, and doing it at any cost. Even if it meant putting his body on the line, months after surviving a near-fatal injury. He wouldn’t hesitate to go airborne, right in front of the Mumbai Indians dugout, to silence a roaring Wankhede crowd in the IPL. When his arms went wide, as if saying to thousands, “talk now,” he couldn’t care less. A wicket was earned, the side was placed in a better position and that’s all that matters to him. On June 6, he virtually attended the selection meeting as captain for the Ireland and England T20Is. After fulfilling his duties, he will reach the Wankhede to participate in the T20 Mumbai League fixture against a side led by Suryakumar Yadav, the incumbent he replaced as captain.‘See you Again’ would have been an appropriate number to hum, but Iyer would prefer the line from ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses.
