Chennai, May 25 (IANS): Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, India batter and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer has revealed that he had raised a word about his struggles with a back injury post the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup, but no one took a note of his concerns.
"I was definitely struggling after the World Cup in the longer format. When I raised my concern, no one was agreeing to it. But at the same time, the competition is with me. When the IPL was approaching all I wanted to see was that I've put my best foot forward.”
“Whatever planning and strategising we (KKR) did before it, basically if we could execute it to the best of our abilities, we would have been in a great spot - and that's where we are right now," said Iyer in the pre-final press conference.
Earlier this year, Iyer was left out of India’s squad for the remaining three games against England after amassing only 104 runs in the first two matches. He reportedly complained of back spasms after the second Test at Visakhapatnam.
Later, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) excluded him from annual retainers, after missing Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Baroda, with Iyer reportedly attending a KKR pre-season camp to solve his back injury issues.
Iyer then returned to play the Ranji Trophy semifinal, in which he made 95 in the second innings against Baroda, and final for Mumbai, as the side won the title at home. Even during the Ranji Trophy final against Baroda, Iyer couldn’t field for two days due to his back issues resurfacing.
Through Sunday’s title clash between KKR and SRH, Iyer will be captaining an IPL team in a final for the second time after leading Delhi Capitals to a runners-up finish in IPL 2020. In IPL 2024, Iyer had a decent time, making 345 runs in 14 games, including two fifties, and wasn’t even in contention for the Indian team in the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup.
"The transformation from red-ball cricket to white-ball, it's difficult as a batsman and as a bowler, I feel. It was kind of difficult at the start but once you get used to it, I think you pick up the pace and march on with the other players."
“It has been fantastic. We won the final. I was part of the team and I also contributed to the final. I stayed in the present and didn’t think about what was going to happen to me in terms of selection. I just wanted to come and participate and see to it that I play to the best of my abilities,” added Iyer on a roller-coaster first six months of 2024.
KKR will heavily bank on their spin-bowling duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine to counter SRH’s power-packed batting line-up. “They are our wicket takers. They have been spot-on in executing our plans. When they bowl in the middle overs, they pick wickets and keep it tight. Hopefully, they’ll do it tomorrow.”
Iyer also thought the pitch for Sunday’s final would be different from the one used for the Qualifier 2 clash on Friday. “Looking at the wicket today, it’s completely different from Qualifier 2. It’s a red soil wicket. We don’t know how it’s going to play tomorrow. The dew factor didn’t play a role yesterday. Whatever decision we take hopefully will go in our favour,”
Iyer struck an unbeaten 24-ball 58 in Qualifier 1 against SRH in Ahmedabad, as KKR advanced easily to the final and are now on the verge of winning their third IPL title. With two-time IPL-winning captain Gautam Gambhir as KKR’s mentor this season, Iyer thinks his presence has been valuable.
“The hype is definitely created by you guys (media persons). Where I stand (as a skipper) is definitely on you (to decide). Gautam bhai has immense knowledge about how the game is played.”
“He has won two titles with KKR and his strategies have been spot on in terms of what execution has to be made against the opposition (teams). He adds a lot of cream to the team and hopefully, we keep continuing with the same momentum through his knowledge,” concluded Iyer.