Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer stamped his authority in the opening game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Goa, smashing his second T20 hundred at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad on Saturday, November 23. Iyer, who is set to go under the hammer at the two-day IPL auction in Jeddah on November 24-25, might not have timed this knock better with as many as five teams looking for a captain. Iyer completed his ton off just 47 deliveries.
Prithvi Shaw provided a good fast start with Shams Mulani complimenting his skipper with a photo finish. However, the innings was all about Iyer. Iyer, who led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title earlier this year, didn’t have a great season personally with the bat and would be satisfied having smashed a century in the first match itself. It boards well for Mumbai as well as him on a personal note.
Iyer smashed 11 fours and 10 sixes in a whirlwind knock as he ended up scoring 130* off 57 balls. Mumbai set Goa a massive target of 251 and even though the latter had a good start to their innings, the target might just be too far out of their reach.
Having won the IPL for KKR, Shreyas Iyer getting released ahead of the mega auction was a surprise. However, as KKR CEO Venky Mysore mentioned during the retention announcement, retentions are a mutual decision. According to Mysore, Iyer was tipped to be KKR’s first retention, however, it seemed like Iyer wasn’t on the same page regarding the retention terms and conditions, it most likely may be the price tag.
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Whatever it be, Iyer now finds himself in the marquee set alongside the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Jos Buttler, Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh. Iyer will surely be in demand with several teams in the market for a new captain while reports suggest that Delhi Capitals are eager to buy their former captain back.
