‘Didn’t get the recognition after winning then IPL’- Shreyas Iyer takes massive swipe at KKR after CT2025 title win

Shreyas Iyer marked his return to the national in fine style. The 30-year-old batter was sidelined from the Indian side after his poor form with the bat. Iyer headed back to domestic cricket, where he piled on the runs for Mumbai, earning him a recall to the side. Once he made his return, Iyer has been in great run-scoring form and was the leading scorer for the side in the recent Champions Trophy. 

The 30-year-old was in conversation with the Times of India, where he said that it has been a satisfying return to the side. Appointed as the new Punjab Kings skipper, Iyer also took a sly dig at the Kolkata Knight Riders, who won the title in 2024 under Iyer’s captaincy. KKR let Iyer go at the end of the season and PBKS picked him for a mammoth INR 26.75 crore. 

Speaking to the Times of India, Iyer said, “Extremely satisfying. To be honest, it has been a journey, and I have learned 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. I asked myself all these questions, prepared a routine, and started focusing on my training and the skills I added side by side." 

‘Figured out how important fitness was’ – Shreyas Iyer

The 30-year-old also revealed the importance of fitness when he was away from the team. “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. Overall, I am extremely happy with myself... the way I came out of this, the way I handled the situation and most importantly, I believed in myself," he added.

Further, when Iyer was asked if he was feeling frustrated during these testing moments, the 30-year-old said, “Frustration toh nahi tha because I was playing IPL. The major focus was to win the IPL, and thankfully, I won it. 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."

“When I talk about recognition, it's about getting that respect. It was about the respect for whatever efforts I put on the field. I think sometimes it gets unnoticed but extremely satisfied with the efforts I put in because they weren't easy wickets to bat on," Shreyas Iyer also added while speaking to the Times of India.