Waiting for national call even when you are scoring is tough, admits Shreyas Iyer

Holding on to your patience even when you are scoring consistently well and not getting the much-awaited break for the national side is a tough task. For many youngsters, it is a common concern, and for Shreyas Iyer, the 23-year-old Mumbai batsman, it has not been any different. He captained India ‘A’ in the recently concluded two-match unofficial Test series against South Africa ‘A’ and led the home side to win 1-0.

Iyer hit a fifty in the second innings of the second game at Alur on Monday which ended in a draw. He made his international debut in November last year and has played in six ODIs and as many T20Is till now. He also gave an impressive account of himself while leading Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year after veteran Gautam Gambhir stood down midway.

When asked about his wait to get the national cap despite being a prolific scorer in domestic cricket and for India ‘A’, the 23-year-old told Mid Day that it is not an easy time. “It’s really tough to be patient. When you perform consistently, get runs and then don’t get into the [senior] team, it runs into your mind. The same thing happened to me two years ago.”

“You just need to balance it out a bit. When you go to the top level, face good bowling and then come a level down, your performance keeps fluctuating because you are not in one place consistently. So, you need to keep yourself focused, and as I said, it affects you at times,” he said.

I love the captaincy role

Shreyas Iyer, who himself loves to don the captain’s hat, however, has not got to represent India as frequently one would have expected him to. His last ODI appearance came in February in South Africa though he did not get a chance to bat. He played the last T20I for India against Sri Lanka in December last year.

India played a couple of more T20I series since then but Iyer did not feature in any game. He was there in the ODI squad in England for a three-match series but did not get a match though he averages 42 in the 50-over format and has two half-centuries in five innings that he played.

On captaincy, Iyer said, “I really love the captaincy role. You have that power to do something on the field and players also like it when they are given an opportunity to do something. Sometimes I get to hear from them as well and appreciate that opportunity. Whenever I get this role [captaincy] my character and attitude totally change, and I see to it that I try and get the best out of myself as well as the team in pressure situations.”

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