After a poor Test series in South Africa, Iyer was asked to feature in the Ranji Trophy domestic competition and represented Mumbai against Andhra in round two. Speaking after Mumbai’s 10-wicket win in the game, the batter opened up about his current thought process.
"See, right now I'm being in the present. I have finished the match which I was asked to play (Ranji game against Andhra). I came, and I executed, so I am happy with what I'm doing. Something that is not in my control, I can't be focusing on that. Coming here and winning the match was my focus and that's what we did today," the 29-year-old was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
The right-handed batter struggled against the Proteas in the two-match Test series. He scored a run-a-ball 48 in Mumbai’s win over Andhra. When asked about his preparations for the England Test series at home, though, he reiterated that he is not looking too far ahead.
"It's important to take one match at a time, not think about five-match Test series. The team is only for the first two games. The motto would be to perform in the first two games and then look forward to the rest of the games,” he said.
"I'm assuming that we would be getting turning wickets against England. But other than that, it was just for my match fitness, to stay on the field as long as possible, that's what mainly I was focusing on because especially after my injury, it has been tough for me to stick on the outfield for long. So this was great practice for me," Iyer added about the red ball game against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy.
The 29-year-old has so far featured in 12 Tests for India and has scored 707 runs at an average of 39.27. His stats include one hundred and five half-centuries. Iyer has also featured in 59 ODI and has totaled 2,383 runs at an average of 49.64 and a strike rate of 101.27 with five hundreds and 18 fifties. Speaking of his T20I career, he has 1,104 runs to his name from 51 matches, averaging 30.66 at a strike rate of 136.12.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
