Shreyas Iyer

After dominating bowlers in college cricket, Iyer was part of the 2014 Under-19 World Cup, though he struggled there on slower pitches. A spell in England with Trent Bridge followed, and on surfaces where the ball came onto the bat he made 297 runs across 3 innings at an average of 99. That success fed into his domestic form. He averaged over 50 in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Ranji Trophy, and his debut Ranji season brought 809 runs at 50.56. In the 2015/16 Ranji campaign he piled up 1321 runs, with 4 centuries and 7 half-centuries, averaging 73.39. His quick scoring and bold approach led observers to liken him to Virender Sehwag, especially for his hand-eye coordination against sharp sideways movement.

Iyer is an attacking batsman who reads line and length early and hits through the ball. The drawback of that method is that he commits to the line early and has several options for the same delivery. In the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy this cost him on seaming, bowler-friendly pitches, where he was beaten and dismissed playing shots better suited to flat tracks.

Ahead of the early 2017 home series against Australia, he struck 202 from 210 balls in a warm-up game, and he was then added to the Test squad as cover for an injured Virat Kohli, though he did not make his Test debut. Later in 2017 he was picked in India's limited-overs side.

In the IPL, Delhi Daredevils signed him at the 2015 auction for 2.6 crore against a base price of 10 lakh, making him the costliest uncapped player that year; Amre, then the franchise's assistant coach, was behind the move. Iyer repaid that faith with 439 runs and the emerging player award. He managed only 30 runs in six innings in 2016, recovered with 336 runs and a best of 96 in 2017, and was consistent in 2018, when he took over the Delhi captaincy midway through the season after Gautam Gambhir left himself out of the side.