Shreyas Iyer's father Santosh reveals how he helped his son overcome the rough patch in his U16 days

Shreyas Iyer’s name was doing the rounds for a long time before he made his international debut. Rather many had advocated his name to bat at the much-debated number four position in the World Cup last year as well. But Ambati Rayudu and eventually Vijay Shankar emerged to be the favourite candidates for the role and Iyer was never picked in line to be picked.

However, soon after the mega event, he was included in the Indian limited overs side only for him to grab the opportunity with both the hands. He is now a vital part of the team and looks set to be a long term option in the middle-order. Shreyas Iyer deserves all the success for all the hard yards he has put in the early part of his career.

It hasn’t been a smooth sailing for the Mumbai lad at all. And his father Santosh Iyer has revealed the hardships his son went through during his U16 days.

Shreyas Iyer’s father thought his son had fallen in love

Santosh spotted the talent in Shreyas Iyer when he was only four years old and tried hard to make sure that the latter made justice to the potential he possessed. However, during his U16 days when the latter was going through a rough patch, his father got worried and called his mentors and coaches to know what was going wrong.

“When Shreyas was four years old, we played cricket in the house with a plastic ball. Even then, he was middling the ball in the way that convinced me that the boy had real talent. So, we did everything in our power to make sure he can fulfil his potential. When one coach told me that your son has talent, but he has lost focus along the way, I got a little worried. I thought he’s either fallen in love or got mixed up in the wrong crowd,” Santosh said while speaking to Cricbuzz.

However, instead of putting pressure on him and make him practice hard, Santosh Iyer took his son to a sports psychologist which was the right thing to do. At a time, when mental health awareness wasn’t enough, Shreyas Iyer got ample support from his father and eventually the move to take him to the psychologist worked.

“Eventually she told me that I was worrying for nothing. Like most other cricketers, Shreyas was simply going through a rough patch. And sure enough, he soon recovered his form and has never looked back,” the senior Iyer added.