His poor performance severely hampered Shreyas Iyer’s hopes of returning to the Test squad in the Duleep Trophy, where he scored only 104 runs in four innings.
India has a packed Test calendar, with a home series against New Zealand and a five-match Test tour to Australia following the Bangladesh series. Iyer could have grabbed attention with a strong performance in the Duleep Trophy, but he only managed 104 runs across four innings, scoring 54, 9, 41, and 0 in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024.
Shreyas Iyer made a great Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur, scoring a century. However, the format has not been kind to him since. His dislike for short-pitched deliveries was exposed early in his international career, and he struggled to establish himself as an overseas test specialist.
His anxiety was heightened by the fact that his numbers had deteriorated even at home, with only 146 runs in eight innings in India over the last two years.
Having been sacked from the Indian Test team earlier this year, midway through the game against England at home, and a spot on the BCCI’s central contract list, the 2024 Duleep Trophy did provide Iyer a chance at redemption with the Bangladesh Test series coming up.
Speaking to The Telegraph, a BCCI insider delivered a severe assessment following Iyer’s Duleep Trophy fiasco, crushing his aspirations 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,” he said.
Iyer, chosen as the D team’s captain, scored only 104 runs in four innings, including a duck and a half-century.
Shreyas Iyer will not go to Australia for BGT 2024-25: BCCI official
Another BCCI official indicated that Iyer is unlikely to be included in the India squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to his troubles with the short ball; nevertheless, he stated that Iyer might do himself a lot of good if he performs well domestically.
Iyer still has a chance to make up for lost runs in the third and final round of the Duleep Trophy tournament later this week, followed by the Irani Cup, where he is expected to play for the Mumbai squad alongside his national duty for the India T20 side against Bangladesh, and then the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy season.
“Shreyas could be there (in the Mumbai squad) for the Irani Cup (beginning on October 1 in Lucknow). Even if he’s picked for the Bangladesh T20Is (from October 6), he still might play Irani and then be available from the second T20I onwards. 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.
“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,” he added.
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