India cricket team batter Shreyas Iyer‘s hopes of making a comeback to the Test side has been dented after his performances in the first two matches of the Duleep Trophy. In eight innings, the Mumbai batter has only managed to score 104 runs. Iyer, who was last part of the Test side in the IND vs ENG series, has not been picked in the squad for IND vs BAN 1st Test and is highly unlikely to be included for the 2nd Test as well.
‘No room for Shreyas Iyer at the moment’
As per The Telegraph, a BCCI official stated that there was no room for Shreyas Iyer in the Test team currently. The official went on to cite Iyer’s shot selection, pointing out the poor shot to which he was dismissed at the hands of Shams Mulani on Sunday in India D’s second Duleep Trophy game against India A.
“At the moment, there’s no room for Shreyas to be in the Test team. Who will he replace? Besides, his shot selection has been a concern in Duleep, especially yesterday (Sunday). He was well set and then suddenly played such a shot (off left-arm spinner Shams Mulani). When you are set and then batting on a flat deck, you need to make the best use of that opportunity,” said a BCCI official.
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All hopes not lost for Shreyas Iyer
While the Duleep Trophy was the best chance for Shreyas Iyer to stake his claim his comeback to the Test side, all hope is not lost yet. The batter is all set to feature in the Irani Cup tie against Rest of India in October, a BCCI official confirmed to The Telegraph. The offical added that if the opporutnity in the Irani Cup was squandered, then Iyer would still have a chance to redeem himself in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.
“Now, if he doesn’t fire in Irani too, he still has the Ranji Trophy to get runs. It wasn’t too many days ago when he was batting so well in last year’s ODI World Cup. He suffered an injury too, which needs to be considered,” said another Board official.
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No ticket to Australia for Iyer?
Further, the BCCI official clarified that it was highly unlikely for Shreyas Iyer to be picked for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in November. Once again, Iyer’s issues with tackling the short ball is one of the main reasons why he might be ignored. However, the official stated that Iyer’s record at home cannot be ignored, adding that that there was one more Duleep Trophy match left and that there was quite a possibility of the batter getting back to scoring runs.
“Also, with still one round left in Duleep, you never know he might score a hundred. He needs to regain form. Most likely he won’t go to Australia for his problems against the short ball, but one can’t just ignore his runs at home,” the official added.
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