‘Fun Chat’ With MS Dhoni, Football With Bollywood Friends Kept Shreyas Iyer In Competitive Zone While Recovering From Shoulder Injury

On Friday, Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian to score a century on Test debut when he achieved this feat in the ongoing Kanpur Test versus New Zealand.

However, the road this year has been really tough for the Mumbai batsman. He suffered a shoulder injury in March while fielding against England in an ODI in Pune, forcing him to miss out on the first half of the IPL 2021, which saw him lose his captaincy. This also hurt his place in India’s T20I squad as well.

Shreyas Iyer got the chance in Kanpur in the absence of a number of first-choice batters, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

The right-hander then credited former India captain, MS Dhoni, for keeping his mind fresh with some ‘fun chats’ during rehab.

“Mahi bhai was there and we spoke little bit about IPL at that point of time, never discussed about winning the IPL (chuckles). You know he is really calm and composed, whenever you for a chat, he’s got so much so experience in the IPL and different forms of the game, so it’s always fun to chat with him,” Shreyas Iyer said in the press conference.

I went and played football with my Bollywood friends: Shreyas Iyer

The 26-year-old also revealed that he played football with a few of his Bollywood friends. He reckons playing football helped him maintain his competitive spirit and keep his fitness levels high.

“It didn’t switch me off completely because my focus was more on cricket rather than playing football. But I really love going out there and trying different sports – whether it be table tennis or badminton.

“But football is something I’ve been playing from my school days. And when I went and played with my Bollywood friends over there, they were very competitive and they were friendly at the same time.

“So it was a good mixture, and also I wanted to get into that competitive zone and see it to that my fitness level was pretty intact. Because you keep running 90 minutes and it’s about how your stamina pans out throughout the game,” he added.

With the help of Shreyas Iyer’s century, India posted 345. New Zealand openers, in reply, have cut down 129 of those by the end of Day 2.

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