Even top footballers are not picked for WC: Shreyas Iyer on pain of rejection

NEW DELHI: Cricketer Shreyas Iyer looks to football to deal with the pain of rejection, saying some of its better players’ failure to make the FIFA World Cup despite shining for their clubs help him put things in perspective.

“It’s not just cricket but even football and other sports, if you see, there also we find breakdowns (heartbreaks). You can find a lot of top footballers not being selected for World Cup despite performing for their clubs. All these small, small things matter and helped me focus on what I am doing at the present,” Iyer said on Saturday.

The realisation that he is not the only one suffering has helped the Mumbai batsman to focus only on the process of scoring runs.

The immensely talented Iyer has had a start-stop international career, having played six ODIS and six T20 Internationals till date.

So how did this change come about?

“I have realised that it’s not only me but there are a lot of other players also who are not being selected. So I can see their frustration as well at the same time and I think it’s just part and parcel of every sportsman’s life. They all go through it,” the 23-year-old Mumbaikar said after his 148-run knock nearly took India B to Deodhar Trophy victory.

He is a part of the Australiabound T20 squad but there has been times when Iyer had been overlooked despite a string of good scores. By his own admission, it used to play on his mind earlier. “I have been playing matches continuously. So I just go match by match as selection is not in my hands. My job is to keep scoring runs and I am lately focussing on that only. Earlier, selection matters used to really play on my mind. Now I have just forgot those things and focussing on things that are necessary,” Iyer said.

This outlook has helped to relax and focus on the Deodhar Trophy final despite the fact there was a team selection prior to the game.

“To be honest, I didn’t react when I got selected. I was focussing on the match as it was really important for me going forward. Deodhar Trophy is the tournament where all performers in Vijay Hazare and Ranji Trophy are playing.

“If you play a good knock over here, you are recognised and selectors have eyes on you and I am in the scheme of things. On and off it doesn’t really matter as you play cricket for passion,” said Iyer.

There are a lot of performers at the domestic level but there is no jealousy if someone outperforms the other.