No. 4 to No. 3: Iyer goes higher!

Having performed the role of a ldquosilent herordquo at number four in the titlewinning Champions Trophy campaign Shreyas Iyer wants to make a big impact at number three position in this Indian Premier League seasonIyer is not part of Indiarsquos T20 set up but a productive debut season for Punjab Kings could revive his international career in the shortest formatIPL17winning captainHe captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the title last season where he batted in the middleorder With Punjab Kings an underperforming franchise since IPLrsquos inception in 2008 Iyer feels no pressure of leading the team and just wants to win another trophyldquoWe already know that IPL is an integral part of Indian cricket And If I would want to mark myself at some position in T20 it would be number three And thatrsquos what Irsquom focusing at I wouldnrsquot say that we are planning and thinking about what number I will be batting ldquoThis time Irsquom quite clear about that position And Irsquom going to be focusing on that number As long as coach approves of merdquo Iyer said at the season opening media interaction seated alongside head coach Ricky PontingAlso ReadlsquoWankhede wicket will suit MIrsquos Ryan RickletonrsquoFresh from a successful Champions Trophy Iyer is excited about his reunion with Ponting They both worked together at Delhi CapitalsldquoIrsquove worked with him for almost three years in a franchise And I know how he thinks about every individual on and off the field He supports everyone You see in some places there is a seniorjunior cultureldquoBut when I worked with him for the first time he made me feel like Irsquom a great player And I can easily excel in this format So the confidence he gives is of a different levelrdquo Iyer saidldquoAnd it feels good to work with him If for example the result has gone here and there his mind doesnrsquot fluctuate He thinks in the same way And he just likes to winrdquoAnd what his shared goal of the partnership with the Australian legend ldquoThe importance is to win the trophy There is no pressure of Punjab having never won the IPL It is an opportunityrdquo said IyerIyerrsquos reunion with PontingPonting was all praise for Iyer at the media interaction Punjab had retained only two players ahead of the mega auction where they built a squad full of match winners including Arshdeep Singh Yuzvendra Chahal Marcus Stoinis Glenn Maxwell and Marco JansenldquoI was desperate to work with Shreyas again We had a great working relationship at Delhi over a long period of time Hersquos one of the best players that Irsquove worked withrdquo the former Australia captain saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever