‘One of the worst phases of my life’ – Shreyas Iyer recalls suffering stomach infection in South Africa

Shreyas Iyer has been doing a lot of talking with the bat lately. The right-handed batter was on a roll during the recently concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka, scoring unbeaten half-centuries in all three games. The 27-year-old has indeed given the national selectors a good headache, staking a claim in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2022, which is less than eight months away.

As the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane has been dropped from India’s Test squad, Shreyas would be raring to make a mark in the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka as well. Besides this, the young batter, who bagged INR 12.25 in the IPL 2022 mega auction, has been named the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

While all these things suggest Shreyas has had a great 2022 so far, that’s not the entire story. During the Test series against South Africa earlier this year, the batter suffered a stomach infection. Calling the phase the worst time of his life, Iyer revealed that he lost seven kilograms due to the infection.

Not a great start to the year but a decent one: Shreyas Iyer

“I wouldn’t say the best start (to the year), but yes, a decent one. Why not great? I had a very bad stomach infection at the start of the year when we were in South Africa. I lost seven kilos there. Basically, whatever I was eating, it was coming out. It was one of the worst phases of my life,” Shreyas was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

On being asked about his success against Sri Lanka, Shreyas said he allowed himself to play with freedom. “Yeah, it felt very good. The start, which I got, was really amazing. I told myself I am just going to play with full freedom because now we have such depth in our batting line-up that it gives us more freedom to go and express ourselves. Even if we are a few runs down, the intent has to be very positive,” said Iyer.