You get to learn a lot sharing the dressing room with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, says Shreyas Iyer

23-year-old Shreyas Iyer has been a consistent performer with the bat ever since his IPL debut in 2015, where he garnered 439 runs in 14 matches, to bag the emerging player of the tournament award. Since then, the middle-order batsman has made his debut for the Indian national team as well and is looking very much the future of the Men in Blue.

Iyer was included in the 16-man squad to travel to the United Kingdom to face England and Ireland later this year in July. His inclusion came after his performances this year with the national team and his exploits in the ongoing IPL as well.

Iyer traveled to South Africa earlier this year and was part of a historic series win against the Proteas under the leadership of Virat Kohli. And the youngster added that he has learned a lot from the likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma and the rest of the Indian team in the few matches that he participated in.

“My experience in South Africa was really nice because sharing the dressing room with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma – you get to learn a lot. And you try to pick up a little bit of the abilities which they have,” Iyer told WisdenIndia.

Iyer was also named skipper of the India ‘A’ team that will take on England Lions and Windies ‘A’ in June, a month before the England tour. The 23-year old was also named skipper of the Delhi Daredevils side after Gautam Gambhir opted to step down.

“This will be a great opportunity prior to the ODI series, to get to know the wickets over there. Obviously, it’s a great feeling to lead the India A side. It’s not that I haven’t led before, I led against New Zealand A team when they were touring here. Captaincy gets the best out of me. Whenever I’ve played, I’ve learned how to be responsible while batting. Previously I used to throw away my wicket, but now I’ve started rotating and taking the match till the end,” Iyer said.

Iyer has been in the thick of things in the limited overs side for a while now and has admitted that he was targeting a spot in the squad for the ICC 2019 ODI World Cup to be played in England next year. He reckoned that if he performed well on the upcoming tour, he would be able to cement his spot in the middle-order of the Indian team.

“I haven’t played that many matches in the subcontinent, but playing abroad is going to be really important because the next World Cup is going to be in England. If I really score well there, I might be there in the reckoning. And also the current form I’m in, it will be really helpful for me to play in England and get as much experience as possible,” added Iyer.