‘Avoid newspapers and social media,’ Dhoni tells Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer surprisingly took over the captaincy of Delhi Daredevils in the IPL from Gautam Gambhir in the middle of the season.

Delhi Daredevils and India batsman, Shreyas Iyer, on Saturday revealed how an advice from Indian legend MS Dhoni helped him maintain his focus during the early stages of his international career.

Iyer, who replaced Gautam Gambhir as Delhi Daredevils skipper during IPL 11, revealed in a talk show that the former Indian skipper advised him to keep distance from newspapers and social media when he began his international career.

“After I joined the Indian cricket team, MS Dhoni advised me that I need to avoid reading the newspapers and should try to stay away from social media as much as possible,” news agency IANS quoted Iyer as saying.

“Social media has become a big part of our lives and I try to manage it well but it’s the criticism that motivates me and keeps me going,” the 23-year-old said.

The batsman then went on to reveal how he handled the fame and attention he got from cricket, and was careful to spot people who were aiming to take advantage of him.

“Soon after the auction news was out, this girl whom I knew started messaging me. On confronting her as to why she is desperately trying to reach out, I got to know that she was doing so because she was happy for me. That’s when I understood that rather than getting to know me, she was behind the money,” Iyer added.

Shreyas Iyer had a good individual season with the Daredevils in IPL 11, scoring 411 runs from 14 innings at a good strike rate of 132. However, his valiant efforts could not save the Daredevils from finishing last in the IPL 11 table.

The 23-year-old has featured in 6 ODIs for Team India, scoring 210 runs with two half-centuries at an average of 42. On the other hand, he has also played 6 T20Is for India, scoring 83 runs at an average of 16.6.