No place for Shreyas Iyer in Test team, won't go to Australia: BCCI official's verdict after Duleep Trophy debacle

Three years back, Shreyas Iyer made a sparkling debut in Test cricket with a century against New Zealand in Kanpur. But the format hasn't been kind to him ever since. With his aversion to short-pitched deliveries getting exposed early in his international career, he struggled to find his feet as an overseas Test specialist. What added to his concern was that his numbers deteriorated even in home conditions, having scored just 146 runs in eight innings in the last two years in India.

Having been dropped from the Indian Test team earlier this year, midway through the contest against England at home, and a place in the BCCI’s central contract list, the 2024 Duleep Trophy did offer Iyer a shot at redemption with the Bangladesh Test series coming up. But the India batter picked as the skipper of the D team, managed just 104 runs in four innings, which included dismissal for a duck and one half-century knock.

Speaking to The Telegraph, a BCCI official, in the wake of Iyer's Duleep Trophy debacle, issued a harsh verdict as he crushed his hopes of making it back 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 won't go to Australia'

Iyer still has an opportunity to an opportunity to make up for the runs in the third and final round of the Duleep Trophy tournament later this week, which will be followed by the Irani Cup, where he is likely to turn up for the Mumbai squad amid his national duty for the India T20 side against Bangladesh, followed by the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy season. But another BCCI official told the national daily that even if the 29-year-old bounces back to form, he is unlikely to be part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad.

“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.”