“Feel blessed and grateful” - Shreyas Iyer responds to birthday wishes with heartfelt note

Team India batter Shreyas Iyer has shared a post on Twitter to thank his well-wishers and fans for wishing him on his birthday. The Mumbai player turned 28 on Tuesday (December 6).

Apart from Iyer, many current and former cricketers are also celebrating their birthday today. Among Indian players, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Karun Nair, Suyash Prabhudesai, and RP Singh were born on this day.

Pakistan’s Nasir Jamshed, Zimbabwe’s Sean Ervine, New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips, England’s Andrew Flintoff, and Ireland’s Harry Tector also celebrate their birthday on December 6.

Wishes have been pouring in for Shreyas Iyer throughout the day on social media. Reacting to the same, he took to Twitter and posted a thank you note. He wrote:

“Beautiful people, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for wishing me and showering so much love on my born day. I feel blessed and grateful for such a magical feeling. Thank you once again. Lots of love."

Along with the post, he shared pictures of cake-cutting celebrations with Shikhar Dhawan. The veteran Indian opener celebrated his 37th birthday on December 5. Earlier in the day, the Twitter handle of BCCI also shared a couple of pictures of Iyer and Dhawan’s birthday celebrations from the Indian dressing room.

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“He looks like a good thinker of the game” - Former India spinner backs Shreyas Iyer as Rohit Sharma’s successor

Former Indian left-arm spinner Maninder Singh has backed Shreyas Iyer as Rohit Sharma’s successor as captain in white ball cricket.

While all-rounder Hardik Pandya has emerged as the frontrunner to take over from Sharma in the limited-overs formats, Maninder wants the selectors to consider Iyer as well for the role.

Responding to a Hindustan Times query during a special media interaction organised by the Sony Sports Network, he said:

“I've been saying this for the past 3-4 years, you know Shreyas Iyer is my favourite, whenever I have seen him lead any side, when he led the IPL side or anywhere, he looks like a good thinker of the game. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and he is somebody who is very positive. You can see his approach when he bats, whenever he comes to bat, he is looking for runs."

He continued:

“He is not somebody who thinks that - ‘I'm gonna stay at the wicket for sometime, and then I start scoring runs’. If he doesn't get boundaries from the word go, you can see him rotating his strike, he is looking for singles, trying to find the gaps, and that’s his quality,” Maninder added.

Having made his international debut in 2017, Iyer has represented India in five Tests, 37 ODIs and 49 T20Is.