Shreyas Iyer Didn't Realise Severity Of Injury Until He Was Admitted To Hospital
India batter Shreyas Iyer said he only realised the severity of his spleen injury, picked up during the third ODI against Australia, after being admitted to hospital
India batter Shreyas Iyer said he only realised the severity of his spleen injury, picked up during the third ODI against Australia, after being admitted to hospital, describing the ordeal as "excruciatingly painful." After that injury, Iyer made a successful return to action by scoring 49 in India's ODI series-opening win over New Zealand in Vadodara. "It was painful, excruciatingly painful. I didn't realise how tough that injury was until I got to know that the spleen is an important part of our body, and it's an organ. I didn't even know the word before," he said.
"Then the next day, when I was admitted to the hospital, I realised, 'Wow, okay, this was a severe injury.' Yes, it was (spleen was a new word I learnt that day)," said Iyer in a chat with broadcasters ahead of the second ODI at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
Iyer also said the recovery process forced him to slow down and reflect. "This process made me feel that I had to give myself a little bit of time not to over-exert, because I'm someone who can't sit in one place. I want to keep doing one thing or another," he said.
"But this injury especially gave me time to reflect upon myself, rejuvenate, and also relax as much as possible, because it's not like you can get up and start working out straight away."
"You need to give yourself a lot of time, and I was told that within six to eight weeks, I would be back to normal and then I could start training. So I just followed the proper guidelines I was provided with, and after that it was smooth sailing," he elaborated.
Asked if he was going harder for big shots since his return, Iyer said it was instinct rather than design. "Honestly speaking, I'm not trying to do anything. It's just instincts. The more I practice in the nets, the easier it gets in the match. Even in the nets, I don't decide that I would be targeting a specific area or taking on the bowlers. I like to be in the moment, and I've decided that if the ball is in my area, I'm going to take it on.
"There are no two decisions at a time. I think in the previous game, I was under the impression that I was going to take singles. In that process, my body also reacted a bit slowly. So I just don't want to be in that frame of mind going forward, and this is my mindset currently."
On his communication with the talismanic Virat Kohli, Iyer said their approach was about staying present and building totals that gave bowlers confidence. "See, the communication has always been funny. We just talk about how we would go against the bowlers and try to stay in the present as much as possible.
"So it's not something where we would go harder from ball one. We have decided that we would give ourselves a little bit of time. But also, it's important, especially in 50 overs right now, when you see 300, it's easily chaseable.
"So you've got to reach a total where you can say to the bowlers, 'Okay, this is a safe total, and we've got to win the match as early as possible.' So it's just about being in that positive frame of mind and ensuring that you give a lot of confidence to the bowlers, especially when they're coming on to bowl," he concluded.
India Cricket Team