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Indian batter Shreyas Iyer opened up about his struggles of playing the longer format with issues in his back while taking an indirect dig at the BCCI for his central contract snub. Iyer revealed that he opened up about the same but ‘no one was agreeing’. Shreyas Iyer is set to lead the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 Final, where the Kolkata-based franchise will be up against SunRisers Hyderabad on May 26, Sunday, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The 29-year-old had recovered from a back injury to return to action in the Asia Cup 2023 before he was picked for the ODI World Cup in the same year. In early 2024, Iyer participated in the two home Tests against England, before being benched for three Tests. It was also understood that he had back spasms a day or two after the second Test but was given clearance.
When I raised my concern, no one was agreeing: Shreyas Iyer
Iyer went on to miss some Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai, and had to face the wrath of BCCI. The Indian cricket governing body dropped him from the central contracts. According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, Iyer had informed the Mumbai Cricket Association about the back spasms.
A day before the IPL 2024 final, Iyer opened up about the back injury and indirectly took a dig at the BCCI for his snub from the central contract. Iyer told ESPN Cricinfo, “I was definitely struggling after the World Cup in the longer format.” He added, "When I raised my concern, no one was agreeing to it. But at the same time, the competition is with myself. When the IPL was approaching all I wanted to see was that I've put my best foot forward and 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."
Speaking about his preparations for the big match, the cricketer said, "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."
