Shreyas Iyer – A Wonderkid in the Slow Lane

Shreyas Iyer was identified as someone special from the time Pravin Amre – who made a Test century on debut a generation ago – started coaching him at the iconic Shivaji Park Gymkhana. But his progress through the junior ranks was painfully slow. As an Under-16 player, his stroke play may have earned comparisons with Virender Sehwag, but a tendency to throw away starts didn’t impress the selectors. By the time he made his debut for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team, he was 20.

Impressed by his poise there, the Delhi team spent what was considered a huge sum for an uncapped player to buy him before the 2015 season of the Indian T20 League. He didn’t disappoint, and played a number of superb innings. Since then, there have been other highlights in the league, and caps for India in both ODIs and T20Is for him. But the big moments like the World Cups have tended to pass him by. A younger generation has made better use of its opportunities, and Iyer must wonder if his career will go the Ambati Rayudu way.

But with many of India’s frontline batters now well over 30, this is a crucial period for him to stake his claim. He hasn’t done his chances any harm with his leadership of the Delhi side in the Indian T20 League in 2019 and 2020. Though injury forced him to miss the first half of the 2021 season, with the captaincy reins handed over to Rishabh Pant, Iyer the batter now has a chance to remind cricket watchers why he has been so highly rated for so long.

After three consecutive seasons of more than 400 runs in Delhi colors, Iyer hasn’t found the same fluency after returning from a shoulder injury. But with Delhi safely into the play-offs for a third consecutive year and no leadership responsibilities to worry about, this is his moment to throw his hat into the ring. Iyer played a number of utility innings but was unable to take his side beyond the play-offs. He couldn’t make it to India’s squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup, but the future has looked bright for the right-hand batter of late. He was handed his test debut against New Zealand last year and he wasted no time to announce his presence in the longest format of the game with a century and a half century in the two innings of the match. Thus, Iyer became the first Indian batter to score a century and a half century on his Test debut. While the presence of a number of top players has meant that Iyer hasn’t had adequate number of chances, his form surely bodes well for the future of Indian cricket.yer grabbed the headlines on the first day of the mega auction when the Kolkata franchise spent ₹12.25 crores to secure his services for the 2022 season.

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