Shreyas Iyer has faced a number of setbacks in the past few months.
After an all-time great campaign in the ICC Cricket World Cup last year, Shreyas struggled with recurring back injury and then lost his BCCI central contract. He was not considered for selection in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad as well.
Nayar, who has known Iyer since his early days of playing domestic cricket for Mumbai, said that the KKR captain is one of the strongest people he has met and has dealt with all his setbacks with a positive attitude.
"He is one of the strongest people, mentally, I have ever known, just in terms of how he has accepted certain things that have happened with him. I would have seen a lot of people cribbing and talking about it, but I have not heard him whine about it or complain about it at all. The way he has approached life is in a positive manner - what is in front of you, you try and accept it," said Nayar, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"Certain things are not under his control but his fitness is in his control, and he is feeling a lot better now. He is great on the field, he is batting longer hours, and he has trained really hard. Our S&Cs (strength and conditioning) and physios have worked hard with him."
"Mentally, to have a mindset like that after being rejected or not getting his due, he has taken it very positively. Even when he talks about it, he is not negative, he understands he needs to go back and do well," he added.
KKR have performed well under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership in the ongoing IPL season so far. They are holding the second spot in the points table with 6 wins from 9 matches.
With the bat, Iyer has amassed 251 runs in nine innings at an average of 41.83 and a strike rate of 137.15, including a half-century.
Abhishek Nayar said that Shreyas Iyer's mindset is to score runs no matter which team he plays for.
"He looks to score runs, it (his setbacks) has affected him but the way he has handled it, kudos to him because I can imagine a lot of people reacting very differently than he has," the coach concluded.
KKR’s next IPL match is scheduled against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday (May 3).
(With ANI Inputs)