Red-ball cricket continues to be hostile towards Shreyas Iyer, who has struggled to come to grips with cricket’s longest format despite a century on Test debut in November 2021 against New Zealand in Kanpur.
Tackling short-pitched stuff has been Shreyas’ perennial problem, which is one big reason why his figures in overseas Tests (outside Asia) are so poor. But, at home too, in the past 19 months, Shreyas’ numbers are just as disappointing.
Just 146 runs were all he could manage in his eight innings in Test matches in India. The ongoing Duleep Trophy was his best chance to be back in the reckoning after a long period away from the national squad owing to a back injury, while he also went on to lose his place in the BCCI’s central contract list.
Leading Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL crown was a fantastic comeback to competitive cricket for Shreyas, even though he failed to make India’s T20 World Cup squad. The Sri Lanka tour, where he totalled only 38 in the three-match ODI series, wasn’t ideal for Shreyas as, just like his batting colleagues, he too couldn’t read the Sri Lankan spinners.
These Duleep matches thus were crucial for the 29-year-old. But all that he aggregates after two matches are 104 runs from four innings with only one 50-plus score.
“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,” pointed out a BCCI official.
On Sunday, Shreyas, also the India D captain, was nowhere near the line of the ball and got bowled as he attempted a pull. That, even after batting with fluency to score 41 at a strike rate of over 70.
Former Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir’s presence in the Indian team as head coach certainly augurs well for Shreyas. But he seems to be making the scenario all the more difficult for himself with his failure to cash in on these opportunities as well as frequent dismissals off spinners. Though he had his share of problems against quicks, Shreyas used to be viewed as a good batter against spin in his early days.
“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.”
