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India’s ODI vice-captain has had quite a journey in the recent years. Dropped from Test side, lost his central contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to Indian Premier League (IPL) title, released for mega auction, leading run-scorer in ICC Champions Trophy 2025, led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to IPL final after a decade. Iyer has had a roller coaster ride in true sense. He recalled getting disciplined, putting in hard yards in domestic cricket and walking into the playing XI, brimming with confidence. He wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the Champions Trophy 2025 playing XI but he gained confidence with performances against England in the home series, scoring three fifties in a row.
"It was a rollercoaster ride and things looked in shambles and helter skelter earlier. But I told myself to set a routine, discipline myself and play domestic cricket. I went back to my time in Mumbai, played the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I performed in all these tournaments, and they helped me boost my momentum and confidence heading into CT. Then I was lucky to have played in ODIs against England and stamp my authority there," Iyer said at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai.
What was Iyer’s job in Champions Trophy 2025?
Iyer was India’s rock in the middle order in ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He scored 243 runs from five innings at an average of 48.60. Normally, scoring at a high strike rate in ODIs, his strike rate was 79.41 at the mega event.
"During the CT, I was in a position where I had to play ball to ball in the start and then put myself in pressure and charge against bowlers. We thought in Dubai, 250-300 was a winnable total. My job was to take the team to that total, and then after that, let us see what happens. Looking at the line-up, our bowlers, we had immense confidence that we would be able to defend. We were also confident of chasing," Iyer said.
How Iyer addressed the short ball problem?
The 30-year-old also recalled the conversations around his issue against the short ball. He said that he wanted to prove naysayers wrong with his performances.
"Over the last two years, there were talks about me that I could not play a certain shot, and when I came back, I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I worked on myself, wanted to take on the bowlers and it was just I, had to challenge myself to put myself in that pressure situation to take on the bowlers. It is a matter of practice. The more you hit that shot, practice against difficult bowlers, the more confident you get," the ODI vice-captain further added.
Iyer is set to be tested with short ball ploy again as India are to tour Australia later this month. He will face his first challenge on the bouncy track of Perth, starting October 19 against the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc.
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