The rise of Shreyas Iyer - the young prodigy

Shreyas Santosh Iyer, popularly known as Shreyas Iyer, hails from Chembur, Mumbai. His dad Santosh Iyer is from Kerala and his mom Rohini Iyer is a Mangalorean. Shreyas has a younger sister, Shresta Iyer, who is a professional dancer and choreographer.

Shreyas Iyer was spotted by coach Pravin Amre, who trained under him in his early cricketing days. He was a natural stroke player even from his early days that grabbed the attention of Pravin Amre. Due to his fearless approach and dominating stroke play, he drew comparisons to Virender Sehwag in his early days.

West Indies v India - One Day International Series

The rise and rise of Shreyas Iyer

Born : December 06, 1994

Location: Mumbai

Age: 26

Batting Style: Right Handed Bat

Bowling Style: Right-arm legbreak

Hailing from Mumbai, Shreyas Iyer has the typical Mumbai swag in his body language, in the way he walks. His high backlift is something that we most often don't see in the sub-continental players. His unique technique comprises of his fearless approach, dominating stroke play and hand eye coordination.

He is that rare breed of player who has the the ability to provide stability to the team by anchoring the game and also got the uncanny ability to clear the fence without much effort. He is more of a stroke player than a hard hitter, who relies on timing the ball rather than going for power.

Shreyas Iyer came into the limelight when he was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils at the 2015 IPL auction. He had a base price of 10 lakhs, but was picked up for a whooping 2.6 crores. Shreyas Iyer was the highest paid uncapped player at the 2015 auction.

Pravin Amre was the assistant coach of Delhi Daredevils during that period and he was instrumental in bringing Shreyas Iyer to Delhi Daredevils. Iyer repaid the faith shown in him by his childhood coach Pravin Amre and the Delhi Daredevils management by scoring a staggering 439 runs in his debut season as he bagged the 'Emerging Player of the Year award'.

Shreyas Iyer had to experience both the highs and lows of his career in this short span of time. The Mumbai lad was given ample opportunities in the ODI team and his performances were pretty decent enough but he had to deal with injuries off late, because of which he was in and out of the team more often.

On 27 April 2018, Shreyas Iyer became the youngest captain to lead Delhi Daredevils in IPL history. In the 2021 edition of the IPL, he was out of the team due to a shoulder injury, but came back in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, due to his injury, he had lost the captaincy role to Rishabh Pant.

Shreyas Iyer kickstarted his test career in prime fashion, scoring a century in his debut at Green Park, Kanpur. He was bold in his approach on his debut, even on the slower track.

It was a calm and composed knock under pressure from the young Mumbai lad. He was one of the few players to have scored a century on debut. If Shreyas Iyer continues in this way, he will be the one to look out for in the future.

Great start to your Test career, @ShreyasIyer15. Nice to see you as a part of #TeamIndia in ‘whites’.Good luck! - Sachin Tendulkar

Having seen all the work you've put in over the last few years, very well deserved and only the beginning for you mate. Proud of you @ShreyasIyer15 - Ricky Ponting

Delighted for #ShreyasIyer. His talent was never in doubt since we first saw him at that 2014 U19 World Cup. This is proof now that he has the temperament to do it at this level. Keeps the game moving, isn't afraid to play the big shots. Good modern player. - Harsha Bhogle