10 things to know about Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has become the lynchpin of every batting line-up he has featured in.

Shreyas Santosh Iyer is a name we are very familiar with since the eighth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). This Mumbai lad’s immaculate consistency has been an issue of discussion for a long time now. He might not have played many matches and has definitely not played in overseas conditions, but if he continues to get runs as he is doing now, he would definitely be in for a probable selection in the Indian cricket team

Here are 10 things to know about this exciting youngster.

1. He was first spotted by Pravin Amre, an accomplished coach, at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana and trained him in his early days.
2. He was called as the ‘young Viru’ at that age by his teammates, drawing a comparison to the legendary Indian cricketer, Virender Sehwag.
3. His junior and age-group cricket journey has been documented in the short film titled 'Shreyas Iyer Documentary - A Father's Dream' directed by cricket writer Aayush Puthran.
4. In 2014, Iyer represented the Trent Bridge Cricket Team during a trip of the U.K. He played three matches scoring 297 runs at an average of 99 with a top score of 171 which was a new team record.
5. He made his List A debut for Mumbai in November 2014 playing in the 2014-2015 Vijay Hazare Trophy where he scored 273 runs at an average of 54.60. His made his first-class cricket debut in December 2014 during the 2014-2015 Ranji Trophy.
6. The runs hunt continued to come with a total of 809 runs at an average of 50.56 which included two centuries.
7. This made the Delhi Daredevils contract possible him for a whopping price of 2.6 Crores which made him the highest paid uncapped player.
8. He upheld the confidence the team owners had on him by scoring 439 runs in 14 matches, with an average of 33.76 and a strike rate of 128.36 despite the team failing to qualify for the knockouts.
9. He awarded with the Emerging Player of the season award by the BCCI.
10. In 2015-2016 Ranji trophy season, he topped the list of the highest run scorers with 930 runs in 13 innings at an average of 71 which included 3 hundreds and 4 fifties with a top score of 200. In the recent Mushtaq Ali trophy, he continued his great form with great performances.

To sum it up,

1. He averages nearly 56 in the First class cricket in 36 innings with the highest score of 200.
2. In List A, he played 12 innings and scored 495 runs at an average of 45 with the highest score of 105*
3. In T20s, he averages around 29 with a brisk strike rate of 132.
4. It is to be noted that, in both first-class and List A, his strike rate is above 80.