Shreyas Iyer admits feeling under-recognised after IPL 2024 win
Shreyas Iyer finished as India’s leading run-scorer in the Champions Trophy 2025. After the tournament, the cricketer reflected back on his tough time and noted that he felt underappreciated despite helping KKR clinch their third IPL trophy in 2024.
After missing out on the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu in 2024, Shreyas Iyer was axed from BCCI’s central contract. He had a terrific season with the bat in ODI cricket but regardless, the board decided to punish the cricketer for opting out of domestic cricket. Iyer eventually returned to the final against Vidarbha and helped Mumbai to clinch the title.
Soon after that, Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Later, he went on to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2024 and also the Champions Trophy in 2025. He finished as India’s leading run-scorer in the marquee tournament.
He will now join the Punjab Kings camp and lead the team in the 2025 edition. Ahead of that, the Mumbai-born noted that despite winning the IPL trophy as captain for KKR in 2024, he felt underappreciated. However, he believed that self-integrity was more important and for the same reason, the cricketer didn’t speak out on the matter.
“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,” Iyer told The Times of India.
After the Champions Trophy 2025 heroics, India captain Rohit Sharma called Iyer the ‘silent hero’ of the team. Speaking on that, the cricketer stated that sometimes his contributions go unnoticed but nevertheless, he was happy with the effort that was put in during the mega tournament.
“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. It wasn’t easy to take singles especially when the bowlers were bowling so tight. I just had the belief in myself that once I get two sixes here or there, I can change the momentum towards our side. Luckily I got them at crucial times,” he added.
