Cricketer Shreyas Iyer looks to football to deal with the pain of rejection, saying some of its better players' failure to make the FIFA World Cup despite shining for their clubs help him put things in perspective.

"It's not just cricket but even football and other sports, if you see, there also we find breakdowns (heartbreaks). You can find a lot of top footballers not being selected for World Cup despite performing for their clubs. All these small, small things matter and helped me focus on what I am doing at the present," Iyer said on Saturday after his 148-run knock nearly took India 'B' to Deodhar Trophy victory.