Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad are all set to play the final of the IPL 2024 on Sunday, May 26. Both teams will try to win the title as it’s been a long they won the title as well. Ahead of the all-important game, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer opened up about his struggle after injury and eventually dropped from the India squad.
“Basically I was definitely struggling after the World Cup in the longer format,” Iyer said on the eve of the IPL final in Chennai. “And when I raised my concerns, no one was agreeing for it. But at the same time the competition is with myself. When the IPL was approaching, all I wanted was to see to it [was] that I put my best foot forward. And whatever planning and strategising we [KKR] did before it… if we could execute to the best of our abilities, we would have been in a great spot. And that’s where we are right now.”
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However, news of Shreyas Iyer’s injury relapse at the end of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam in early February and he went on to miss the rest of the three games of the series. Because the medical department at the National Cricket Academy couldn’t find any issues with his back, he had to live with the tag of defaulting on domestic cricket after he missed Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal as well.
Around the same time, reports of his participation in a KKR pre-season camp came in the news and Iyer was dropped from the list of centrally contracted cricketers soon after his head-turning returns at the World Cup. He returned to action for the semifinals and finals of Mumbai’s run to the Ranji Trophy title although another pain ensured he couldn’t take the field for the final two days of the title match as well.
“It has been fantastic, touch wood…,” he said of his last two months. “Yeah we won the [Ranji Trophy] final, I was part of the team and I also contributed in the final. It gives me immense pleasure to be honest to be playing so well in the last few months and also coming and being part of such an amazing squad where each and every individual has been stepping in and contributing to the team’s benefit.”
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“So, yeah all I did was stay in the present and not think about what is going to happen with me or worry about the selection process or anything. I just wanted to come and participate and see to it that I play to the best of my abilities. The transformation from red-ball cricket to white ball, it’s kind of difficult as a batsman and also 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,” Shreyas Iyer concluded.
