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A little over six months ago, on the eve of a big final, Pat Cummins and Daniel Vettori were part of a think-tank that was deep in conversation about the perceived threat from one opposition player: Shreyas Iyer. Australia saw him as the difference maker in India’s middle-order, one who had to be eliminated quickly if they wanted to forge an easy path to the World Cup crown.
On Sunday in the IPL 2024 final, Iyer and his Kolkata Knight Riders team will stand once more between Cummins and an opportunity to round off a truly ludicrous 12-month trophy-collecting spree. Where the Australian’s stocks have progressively grown in this period, Iyer’s plummeted before a redemptive rise of sorts in this IPL season.
It was a persistent issue with his back that impeded Iyer’s progress several times over. In fact, he’d undergone surgery and missed a majority of cricket in 2023 in the hope of a permanent fix, but straight after the World Cup, the troubles were back.
“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.”
News of Iyer’s injury relapse first surfaced at the end of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam in early February and he went on to miss the subsequent three games of the series. Because the medical department at the National Cricket Academy didn’t detect any issues with his back, the 29-year-old had to live with the tag of defaulting on domestic cricket after he missed Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal.
Around the same time, reports of his participation in a KKR pre-season camp emerged and while specifics of this didn’t make it to the public domain, Iyer was dropped from the list of centrally contracted cricketers merely months after his head-turning returns at the World Cup.
He did return to action for the semifinals and finals of Mumbai’s run to the Ranji Trophy title although another relapse of the pain ensured he couldn’t take the field for the final two days of the title match. It was in this backdrop that he began this IPL season: uncertain about his own fitness and position in the larger scheme of things. That he was captain meant he had to look beyond his personal travails and strive towards the greater good of the team. Which was perfect.
“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.
“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.”
