Team India batter Shreyas Iyer opened up about the decision to temporarily give up red-ball cricket after the second ODI against Australia in Adelaide. The star right-hander surprised many by requesting the board for a half-year break from red-ball cricket due to his back issues at the end of September.The decision came immediately after Iyer played the first four-day game for India A against Australia A, forcing him to withdraw from the second outing.Reflecting on the decision and reason behind the same, Iyer said at the press conference after the second Australia ODI:I've been playing continuously since with the Champions Trophy and the IPL. And when I started playing red-ball cricket, I realized when I field on the ground for long hours in red-ball cricket, my intensity reduces and that I won't be able to match the intensity required for an international game. So I made my decision based on that. But in an ODI, you know you'll get rest the next day for recovery.He also spoke about dealing with the low of being out of the side at the end of last year to his revival this year."When I came back at the start of the year, I was coming off an exceptional domestic season with a near-300 average. So in a way, when you play domestic cricket, you derive great confidence coming into international cricket because you have runs behind you. Ofcourse you've expectations that you'll play 100%. And a lot of things aren't in my hands either. I can go and perform on the ground, that's in my hands. By god's grace, I got that opportunity at the start of the year and I maximised it," said Iyer.Iyer has enjoyed an outstanding 2025 season for India and in the IPL, helping the Men in Blue win the Champions Trophy and the Punjab Kings finish runners-up."It definitely hurts" - Shreyas Iyer on India's ODI series defeat to AustraliaShreyas Iyer acknowledged the disappointment of losing the ODI series in Australia after their defeat in the second ODI at Adelaide. The Men in Blue lost the series opener at Perth by seven wickets before going down in a closer encounter in Adelaide by two wickets."It definitely hurts. I feel the first game which we played, it wasn't that convincing because the rain played an important role and the benefit went to the Australian side. But coming into this game, it was definitely a do-or-die for us and we wanted to place our best foot forward," said Iyer.He concluded:"But losing two crucial wickets at the start and then build up that innings, it takes a lot of effort. And I personally feel the way the Australian bowlers bowled on this wicket, they had a fair bit of advantage at the start and they utilized it pretty well."Iyer was one of the few bright spots for India in the second ODI, scoring a well-paced 77-ball 61 to help them recover from early trouble and post 264 in 50 overs.