Shreyas Iyer makes shocking revelation on quitting red-ball cricket

Star India National Cricket Team middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer has finally opened up on taking a six-month break from red-ball cricket during a time when a Test recall seemed around the corner.

Shreyas Iyer has also discussed his new upright batting stance, which he has been using in the ongoing ODI series against the Australia National Cricket Team on pitches that are spicy and bouncy.

My intensity starts to go down - Shreyas Iyer

Last month, the 30-year-old requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India for a short break from red-ball cricket, and he was granted permission from the BCCI.

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The Mumbai and Punjab Kings star was very much in India's scheme of things in red-ball cricket when he decided to take a break. Shreyas Iyer was named as the India A skipper for the four-day games against Australia A, and after playing the first match of the series, he decided to withdraw from the second one.

Iyer was expected to play for the Rest of India in the Irani Cup and for India in the home series against West Indies. But a request for a break meant he ruled himself out of India Test comeback, and the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said that they will give Iyer time to build endurance in his body and work on fitness.

While talking about his red-ball cricket absence at a press conference after India vs Australia 2nd ODI, Iyer stated that he was unable to maintain the intensity that is required in red-ball cricket, which prompted him to move away from the format for a while. He said:

"When I played red-ball cricket after the IPL, I realized that if I field for long spells on the ground, my intensity starts to go down. And the intensity that you need to maintain in international cricket, I wasn't able to match up to it. In ODIs, you know you will get rest after one day and be able to recover. Not in Tests. That is why I made that call, and conveyed that message."

Since last year, I wanted to have an upright stance - Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer's troubles with short balls are well known, and to counter the threat, he had adapted a more upright stance, which he used in the past as well. Talking about this, Iyer elaborated:

"Since last year, I wanted to have an upright stance [for conditions] where the bounce is a little bit more than expected. And based on that, I worked with my coach and we developed this new technique, and it was kind of suiting me pretty well. And the way I grew up playing, it was very much that I predominantly had an upright stance, and I just was like, 'Let's go back to my old technique and see how it, you know, [holds] up.'

"So, yeah, I backed myself and then, from there on, I started [trying the technique] in the domestic [games]... Till now, I've been continuing with the same stance."

And yeah, you've got to keep chopping and changing every now and then - Shreyas Iyer

Iyer further emphasized changing the stance as per the conditions and said that it has helped him adapt to different kinds of conditions very well. He said:

"Even in Mumbai, when we play on red-soil wickets - where the bounce is a little bit extra than expected - I think it helps with the upright stance," Iyer said.

"And yeah, you've got to keep chopping and changing every now and then, because you don't play on the same wickets [all the time]. Whatever the wicket demands, you've got to change your stance accordingly, and I think I've changed so many stances [that] I'm able to adapt anywhere at the moment."

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