Three years ago, Shreyas Iyer made a brilliant Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur when he hit a century. But since then, the format hasn’t been good to him. Early in his international career, his dislike of short-pitched deliveries was revealed, which made it difficult for him to establish himself as a reliable overseas Test batter. His worries were heightened by the fact that, in the previous two years in India, he had only managed to score 146 runs in eight innings, a decline that continued even under home conditions.
Iyer was dropped from the Indian Test team earlier this year, midway through the home match against England, and was placed on the BCCI‘s central contract list, but the 2024 Duleep Trophy provided him with a chance to redeem himself with the Bangladesh Test series approaching. But in just four innings, including a duck and a half-century, Shreyas Iyer who was selected to lead the D team managed just 104 runs.
Iyer will have another chance to make up ground later this week in the Duleep Trophy tournament’s third and final round. After that, he will play in the Irani Cup, where he is expected to play for the Mumbai team while serving as an international for the India T20 team against Bangladesh, and the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season. Even if the 29-year-old returns to form, a BCCI official informed me that he is not expected to be included in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy team.
After Iyer’s Duleep Trophy fiasco, a BCCI official delivered a severe judgment that dashed Shreyas Iyer’s chances of returning to the Indian Test team.
“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,” the BCCI official said.
Currently, Shreyas Iyer is playing in the Duleep Trophy and leading India D. Under Shreyas’ captaincy, India D failed to create any impact on the tournament and is sitting at the bottom of the table at this moment.
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