Birthday special: Shreyas Iyer – The talented Mumbaikar with bright future
Shreyas Iyer, born on 6th December 1994, rose to fame when Delhi Daredevils bought him at the 2015 IPL auction for a whopping price of INR 2.6 crore. However, his story goes much behind that. At the Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Mumbai, Pravin Amre spotted a teenager playing eye-catching strokes against pacers twice his age and height. Having scouted a potential youngster who had a keenness of high degree to learn, Amre began to train Iyer.
The beginning
After proving his talent at the college-level cricket, the youngster made room for himself in the Under-19 World Cup of 2014 held in the UAE. Though he found the going tough initially at the slow and low tracks, he came back to form, hitting consecutive half-centuries in the playoffs to help India finish fifth in the U19 World Cup points tally. Sent to play for the Trent Bridge cricket team in England, Iyer took full-toll and grabbed eyeballs, scoring 297 runs in 3 innings at a mind-boggling average of 99.
He made his first-class debut for Mumbai in 2014-15 season. After a tepid time in the middle-order, he was, eventually, promoted. The Trent Bridge-stint gave Iyer the confidence to move ahead in the domestic tournaments. That was evident when he averaged above 50 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy that followed. He finished as Mumbai’s leading run-getter with 809 runs at a staggering average of 50.56 in his maiden Ranji season.
Taking the next step
Plying his trade for the Delhi Daredevils in 2015-16, after an impressive run at the domestic level, he aggregated 439 runs from 14 matches and went to bag the award for emerging player of the year. In the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season, Iyer amassed 1321 runs at a marvellous average of 73.39, including seven fifties and four centuries, one of which came in the finals that helped Mumbai to gain its 41st title. Soon, the Mumbaikar drew comparisons to flamboyant Indian opener Virender Sehwag for his bold and dominating stroke-play.
Our skipper Shreyas Iyer has already achieved many milestones in his young career!
Take a look at a few of his major achievements on his birthday.#ThisIsNewDelhi
P.C.- Shreyas Iyer pic.twitter.com/E6SqFkpt4Q— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) December 6, 2018
In early 2017, Iyer was included in the Test squad to replace an injured Virat Kohli, although he is yet to receive a Test cap. Later in the same year, he was rewarded with a spot in the limited-overs as he debuted in the shortest format against New Zealand in November 2017 and got his maiden ODI cap in December the same year, against Sri Lanka.
In merely 43 international games thus far, Iyer has shown that he is capable of becoming an answer to India’s search of number 4. In the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League, Iyer led his team Delhi Capitals to their maiden final. Though he did not manage to add the IPL Trophy to his cabinet, he showed some astute leadership instincts, which makes his case only stronger. In the limited opportunities in internationals, Iyer, who turns 26 today, has displayed the potential to become a future superstar.
