In the next four months, the Indian cricket team will face Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia. 10 Tests will be played in this period, both home and away. But Shreyas Iyer won’t find himself in the squad, much less the starting XI in any of these matches. Having been dropped from Team India’s Test side in February, Shreyas’ wish to make a comeback seems far away.
Multiple players are contending for a spot in the middle order. He wasn’t high in the pecking order, which had players like Sarfaraz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar contending for a spot. Following his failure in the India A vs India B match, it was confirmed that he won’t return soon. When the squad was announced for the India vs Bangladesh Test series, it wasn’t shocking that he wasn’t included.
Shreyas Iyer disappoints
But he had another opportunity. Starting mid-October, Team India is scheduled to face New Zealand in a 3-match Test series. Scheduled to play India D next, the captain of India A wanted to prove that he’s still got it in red-ball cricket. But the result isn’t what Shreyas Iyer expected.
41 runs—that’s all he managed to score. This included a 7-ball duck in the first innings. The dismissal was disappointing as he chipped a full ball on the off stump straight to the hands of mid-on. The second one wasn’t much better. He was nearing his half-century after batting him improved caution.
Generally a great player against spin, Shreyas was nutmegged by Shams Mulani. A short ball by the left-arm spinner stayed a touch low and sneaked between his legs to disturb the stumps. You can’t really say he was done dirty, as he went for an ugly hoick without moving his legs.
No place against New Zealand or Australia
The Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season will start just a week before the New Zealand Tests. By the time the first match is over, or perhaps even before, the squad for the 3-match series will be announced. This means that there is no way Shreyas Iyer really makes it to the 15-member squad. He’ll need to do something out of the world in the last Duleep Trophy match against India C to give himself a chance.
But Australia is nothing other than a distant dream. We know Shreyas’ struggles against pace and bounce. There are only two countries that have both: South Africa and Australia. It’s safe to say that no one really trusts the batter in such conditions against the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. However, if he were to go, it was going to be on the back of his success in Test cricket, which he might not play anytime soon.
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