Shreyas Iyer breaks silence on receiving no support during 'tough times'

The 30-year-old India National Cricket Team middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer has opened up on the lack of support during the tough times he faced.

Shreyas Iyer said that he has learned to take responsibility for himself rather than depending on others as 'only limited people' offer support in hard times.

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Shreyas Iyer continues to shine in ODIs

Iyer has faced a lot of ups and downs in his cricket career. He dominated with the bat for India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 after returning from a lengthy injury layoff, and as things started to look great, he was dropped from the Test team and lost his central contract after ignoring BCCI's domestic cricket directive.

Then, he started grinding hard in domestic cricket to make his way into the Indian team, and he also guided Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL 2024 title.

After that, he was released by the Knight Riders but went on to bag a lucrative IPL contract, thanks to Punjab Kings. He then made his India comeback in the home ODI series against England but was not the first-choice in India's playing XI, and the injury to Virat Kohli helped him get selected.

Iyer made the most of the opportunity he got as he slammed a terrific fifty. Since then, he has looked unstoppable and his good form has continued in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 where he played a sensational innings of 79 runs in the recent match against New Zealand.

No one is going to be there to help you in your tough times - Shreyas Iyer

Speaking to the broadcasters after India's win against New Zealand, Shreyas Iyer said that he keeps backing himself irrespective of the situation and it has helped him a lot.

"It has definitely taught me a lot as a person, as an individual, on how to take the responsibility on myself rather than depending on someone else because over a period of time, I realised that it's only you versus you. No one is going to be there to help you in your tough times, but there are only limited people who would be there and you know them very closely. So yeah, I've been just backing myself and showing that sort of confidence in every situation I enter in. I always love to back my instincts."

"I keep saying that again and again, and I think that's what has helped me in the last 1.5 years. And also the technique that I've developed. I think we had a vivid chat about it. But other than that, just to stay in the present as much as possible and not to dwell in those thoughts which has happened in the past," said Shreyas Iyer.

Axar I think it played a brilliant knock - Shreyas Iyer

Iyer (79) and Axar Patel (42) joined forces to bail India out of trouble after they were left reeling at 30/3 against the Kiwis with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill back in the hut.

The duo added 98 runs together in 136 balls to put the Kiwis under pressure. Talking about the partnership, Iyer lauded Axar for his crucial contributions and said:

"Yeah, obviously you see the ball was coming a bit slowly onto the bat initially. And it was important and crucial for the team to build a partnership from there on, and Axar I think it played a brilliant knock to get those crucial 40 runs for the team, and we almost got a partnership of 100, which was essential at that point of time.

"So, yeah, that was the mindset just to keep ticking the scoreboard. And that we get boundaries here and there which can possibly get the momentum towards us."