Exclusive | Selection not in my hands, all I can do is perform: Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer said that playing the World Cup is still his biggest motivation and all he wants to do is perform at every given opportunity.
Mumbai and India batsman Shreyas Iyer sounded disappointed with the lack of chances recently but hopes to make his way back into the national set-up by scoring runs.
Iyer, who has played six ODIs and T20Is each for India, was overlooked for the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand as the team management opted to go for Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik for the middle-order.
Even when KL Rahul was called back to India after being suspended for his comments on Karan Johar's chat show Koffee With Karan, the selectors opted to send Shubman Gill as a replacement and not Iyer.
But, Iyer is not ready to give up and feels that all he can do is perform and hope for a call-up again.
"I can't say anything about selection. That's not in my hands. All I can do is to perform and I will continue to perform because I play for passion.
"There's a lot of competition these days and you have to keep scoring in every match no matter how worse the conditions are, how good or bad the wicket is, you have to give your best performance. This is the mindset I play with," Iyer said.
Iyer however still wants to go to the World Cup and says that is his biggest motivation.
"Definitely, I would love to be a part of the team for the 2019 World Cup. That's the biggest motivation," Iyer said.
When asked about captain Virat Kohli, he said that Kohli is the biggest motivation for all of them.
"Virat Kohli is playing at a different level. You can't really compare him with anybody at the moment. He is a big motivation for all of us. There's always so much to learn by just watching him play," said the 24-year-old.
Iyer last played for India at Centurion in February 2018.
(With inputs from India TV Sports Correspondent Vaibhav Bhola)