Team India batter Shreyas Iyer shared his disappointment over not receiving due recognition for leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a historic triumph in IPL 2024. The 30-year-old skipper guided KKR to one of the most dominant seasons in IPL history.
KKR topped the points table with nine wins in 12 completed matches and convincingly defeated SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in both Qualifier 1 and the final to secure their third IPL title. However, despite his success, Iyer was not retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.
Instead, Punjab Kings (PBKS) secured his services for ₹26.75 crores, making him the second-most expensive player in IPL auction history. Reflecting on his eventful year after playing a key role in India’s 2025 Champions Trophy victory, Shreyas Iyer told TOI:
“I personally felt I didn’t get the recognition I wanted to after winning the IPL but at the end of the day, as long as you have self integrity and you keep doing the right things when no one is watching, that is more important and that is what I kept doing.”
However, Iyer acknowledged that the IPL played a crucial role in helping him move past the disappointment of losing his spot in the Test team and being left out of the BCCI’s annual central contract.
“Frustration toh nahi tha because I was playing IPL. The major focus was to win the IPL and thankfully I won it,” he said.
“I reflected on my mistakes” – Shreyas Iyer on securing the 2025 Champions Trophy victory
Shreyas Iyer was elated that his hard work post-2023 ODI World Cup paid off, leading to India’s 2025 Champions Trophy win. He topped India’s scoring charts and ranked second overall, scoring 243 runs in five matches at an average of 48.60 and a strike rate of nearly 80.
“Extremely satisfying. To be honest it has been a journey and I have learnt a lot in this phase of my life where I got out of the contract after playing the 2023 ODI World Cup. I reassessed where I went wrong, what I should be doing, how well I need to focus on my fitness,” said Iyer.
He further continued:
“I asked myself all these questions and prepared a routine and started focussing on my training and also the skills I added side by side. Once I got continuous matches in domestic cricket, I figured out how important fitness was for me especially when I raised my concerns at the start of the year.”
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