'Emotionless' Shreyas Iyer not concerned about national selection
What's the story?
It's been ten months since Shreyas Iyer last played a match for India. Having been dropped from the national team, the dynamic right-hander reckons he has turned emotionless and hence does not want to put himself under pressure by pondering over his non-selection.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Shreyas spoke about how the selection muddle doesn't trouble him much nowadays. He also said that he has stopped thinking about a spot in the national team and only wants to stay in the present.
The 24-year old affirmed, "I don’t feel anything from the inside these days. For me somehow it (national call-up) isn’t important. I am emotionless now. Someone comes, and says, I am in team, I am not in team, kuch farak nahi padhta (it doesn’t matter much)."
The background
Shreyas Iyer broke into the international circuit in the year 2017 after excellent performances in domestic games for Mumbai.
However, since then, owing to fierce competition in the Indian middle-order, he has got a limited number of chances in the Indian ODI and T20I teams. Besides not getting too many chances in the playing XI, he has also been in and out of the Indian squad more often than not.
The heart of the matter
Ambati Rayudu's reasonably productive comeback to the Indian ODI team has made the job difficult for the Delhi Capitals captain. So much so that, Shreyas' way to the Indian squad for the 2019 World Cup seems a bit far-fetched with quite a few options available to the selectors. On the same lines, he was overlooked for the New Zealand and Australia series too.
The Mumbai batsman also revealed that he had acquired a nonchalant attitude after his non-selection from the ODI squad against West Indies. Shreyas asserted, "I have stopped thinking too much. It all started against West Indies. I told myself that I want to enjoy my life, I don’t want selection issues to rule my happiness. Otherwise, I would get frustrated and thinking about the future will ruin my present also. It’s better to enjoy life – the selection is a temporary thing."
What's next?
Shreyas continues to showcase his batting skills in the Ranji Trophy. He will be seen in action soon as Mumbai take on Vidarbha at Nagpur from the 30th. Their final group game is at home against Chhattisgarh between January 7 and 10.