Name: Shreyas Santosh Iyer
Shreyas Santosh Iyer is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a right-handed batter. He has played in all formats for the Indian team. Iyer scored a century in his debut test match and a half-century in the second innings against New Zealand in November 2021 and became the first Indian player to do so.
At the age of 18, Iyer was spotted by coach Pravin Amre at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana. Amre trained him in his early cricketing days. Iyer's teammates at the age group levels used to compare him to Virender Sehwag. During his graduation from Podar College in Mumbai, Iyer helped his college team to lift some trophies. In 2014, Iyer represented the Trent Bridge Cricket Team. During a trip to the UK, he played three matches scoring 297 runs at an average of 99 with a highest score of 171, a new team record. Iyer made his List A debut for Mumbai in November 2014, playing in the 2014–15 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored 273 runs in that tournament at an average of 54.60. Iyer made his first-class cricket debut in December 2014 during the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy. He scored a total of 809 runs in his debut Ranji season at an average of 50.56 including two centuries and six fifties. He was 7th highest scorer of 2014–15 Ranji Trophy.
In February 2015, Iyer was signed in the 2015 IPL players auction by the Delhi Daredevils for 2.6 crores (approximately $430,000). Thus Iyer became the highest-earning uncapped player in the tournament. He scored 439 runs in 14 matches, with a 33.76 average and a strike rate of 128.36, making Iyer the 9th most consistent player and Emerging Player of 2015 IPL. Delhi Daredevils retained Iyer in the 2018 IPL Auction. On 25 April 2018, he was announced as the new captain of Delhi Daredevils replacing Gautam Gambhir. On 27 April 2018, he became the youngest captain to lead the Delhi Daredevils team in the IPL history at the age of 23 years and 142 days during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders and was also the fourth overall youngest to captain any IPL side. On his IPL captaincy debut, Shreyas Iyer smashed an unbeaten match-winning knock of 93 off 40 deliveries with 10 sixes, which was his third successive IPL fifty of the season to power DD to a heavy total of 219/5 in the first innings of the match before earning him the man of the match award. Under his captaincy, Delhi Daredevils managed to defeat KKR by 55 runs to secure only their second win of the tournament. Iyer was retained by the Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2019 Season, in which he led the team into the playoffs for the first time after seven years. In the 2022 IPL Auction, Iyer was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹ 12.25 crores. He was also named as the team's captain.
In March 2017, Iyer was added to India's Test squad as cover for Virat Kohli, ahead of the fourth Test against Australia. He came on as a substitute fielder in the fourth test and ran out Steve O'Keefe for 8. On 25 November 2021, Iyer got his Test cap from the former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and scored a maiden century playing against the New Zealand team. He became the 16th Indian player to score a century in the debut test match and become the first Indian player to score a century and a half century in 2 innings of debut test match. In the 2022 bilateral T20I series against Sri Lanka, Iyer broke Virat Kohli's record of most runs scored by an Indian batsman in a 3-match T20I bilateral series, scoring a total of 204 runs with three consecutive unbeaten half-centuries. In January 2023, after Sri Lanka series Iyer was out from the New Zealand series due to back pain. This back pain continued to spell trouble for him as he wasn’t available for the finals against Australia in the T20 world cup either. He was recovering in NCA for his return. As a result of his hard work, Iyer was named in Asia Cup 2023.
During the 2nd ODI against Australia in Indore, Iyer scored 105 runs in just 90 balls, marking a strong comeback ahead of the World Cup. India won the match with Iyer winning the Man of the Match Award for his performance.
