Shreyas Iyer, an Indian middle-order hitter who had a remarkable start to his Test career, is currently not even being considered. Thus far, he has scored 9, 54, and 0 in the current Duleep Trophy tournament. His lackluster performance has not only been evident with the bat, but also in his leadership role.
Iyer’s head wasn’t in the game, according to former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali’s analysis of his most recent dismissal by Khaleel Ahmed. In reference to the more intense comparisons that cricket analysts would have drawn, he said that Iyer should count himself lucky that Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were not playing in the match.
It pains me to watch him because I’m a cricket player. Your focus isn’t on the game if you are ahead of schedule. particularly the red-ball game. He is an IPL champion captain who has made two hundreds in the World Cup; he ought to have scored between 100 and 200 runs in this match. On his YouTube channel, Basit stated, “Iyer is really fortunate that Rahane and Pujara aren’t participating in the Duleep Trophy.
Not only that, but Basit boldly said that Iyer no longer seemed to have the natural need for the longest format that he had. If Iyer had been a selection on the Indian cricket board, he further asserted, he would have had a different opinion of him.
“Iyer no longer has the desire to play red-ball cricket. Boundaries are all he is starving for. Give it top priority. It doesn’t happen that way, if he is thinking that after scoring two hundreds in the World Cup, he is like Virat Kohli. I apologise to Indian fans of Iyer, but if I had been India’s selector, he would not have been included in the Duleep Trophy. He doesn’t appreciate the game,” Basit continued.
As others pass him in the competition for middle-order positions, Shreyas Iyer is finding it difficult to keep up
Iyer could have ideally planned to accumulate significant points in the Buchi Babu competition, which took place last month. Rather, he could only muster 2 and 22, respectively, in the first and second innings against the TNCA XI.
Also Read: Watch: Against India A, Shreyas Iyer takes a wicket with his 1st delivery
Iyer looks to be much behind the rest of the Indian Test team in the race for a middle-order slot, with players like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Sarfaraz Khan all making waves in the first round of the competition with a few others hanging about the above.