The Duleep Trophy was going to play a big role in Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s potential return to India’s Test side. Both had a maximum of 6 innings to prove their naysayers and the selectors wrong. They are halfway there, but only one of them has a case. Kishan missed the first match due to an injury and yet finds himself ahead of Shreyas, who’s scored just 63 runs in 3 innings.
He’d ended things on the right note. He scored a good half-century against India C last week in a match in which India D eventually won. After India A posted 290 on the board in the first innings, India D’s captain, Shreyas Iyer , came to the crease in the first over. Khaleel Ahmed had gotten opener Atharva Taide already, and Shreyas had to be cautious facing the left-arm pacer.
In his short 7-ball stay in the middle, Shreyas faced just Khaleel. The ball was moving around a little bit, but the Mumbaiker looked in control at least until he chipped a full ball on the off stump straight to the hands of mid-on.
India vs New Zealand audition failed?
Shreyas Iyer was dropped from India’s test team earlier in the year, and following a fitness fiasco whereby the NCA (National Cricket Academy) adjudged him fit to play in the Ranji Trophy, he felt he wasn’t 100% there. Shreyas was subsequently dropped from BCCI’s central contract. This was the opportunity for him to show that cutting him from the test side and the contract was wrong.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much. India’s squad for the Bangladesh Test series is out, and Shreyas was nowhere to be set. The middle order is more or less settled, and with other contenders like Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar ready to contend for a spot, Shreyas needs to churn out runs like nothing. But he is getting out for a duck on a fairly innocuous ball.
Shreyas Iyer still has about 3 innings left in the Duleep Trophy. These matches shouldn’t be taken lightly. For him, these matches are an audition for the New Zealand test series. Before the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season starts on October 11, the squad will be out. He won’t have the time to show his mettle once Duleep Trophy is over and will very likely miss out on the flight to Australia.
