He has been demoralising bowlers, altering scripts and winning games for Mumbai. Shreyas Iyer has backed his natural ability with stunning numbers this season. He leads the list of run-getters in Ranji Trophy with a sensational 1,056 runs in nine matches at 70.40.
When The Hindu caught up with this prolific 21-year-old after his training session on Friday, Shreyas was typically confident.
“I like to prove the doubters wrong. When someone predicts my future, I don’t like it. I like to write my own destiny,” he said ahead of the semifinal against Madhya Pradesh.
When he was unable to convert his IPL success into sizable scores at first-class level consistently, many believed Shreyas was not ready for the longer format.
“What I have done this season is to break my innings into segments of 25 runs each, set myself small goals, concentrate harder after each phase, and build an innings,” said Shreyas.
Belief is his strength. “I want to dominate the bowling at No.3, don’t want to allow bowlers to get on top of me. If the ball is in my area, I will go for the shot,” he said.
Shreyas also recalled a valuable piece of advice from Rahul Dravid, his coach at India-A.
“He told me ‘focus more on your defence.’ I have done that, particularly on the front foot.”
Dravid, who he described as “very direct, approachable, and caring”, also told Shreyas to “Stick to the process and keep enjoying the game.”
The two-fold message from Dravid was clear — he wanted Shreyas to tighten up his game without losing the stroke-filled inventiveness of his batsmanship.
It was in this context that Shreyas drew particular satisfaction from his 176-ball 200 against Punjab — his maiden double century in first-class cricket — at the Wankhede Stadium this season.
That was an innings of both solidity and enterprise, a knock of substance and joy, that Dravid had sought from him.
Crucially, Shreyas is adept with his back-foot play.
“I can cut, and do pull when I get my eye in. I realise that, in top class cricket, you will not get pacemen pitching the ball up.
“You have to develop your back-foot game,” he said.
Shreyas acknowledged the contribution of his Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit in his development as a batsman.
“He’s always there for you, gives you full freedom. He never makes you feel that he is your coach but gets his point across very well,” Shreyas said.
