Shreyas Iyer seems to be having a rough patch of form. The Indian batsman hasn’t been in and around the Indian Cricket team for a while and the Ranji Trophy is being seen as the platform which could revive his career.
Iyer hasn’t been at his best in the red ball cricket so far as he could only manage a couple of fifties in the Duleep Trophy and followed it by another half-century in the Irani Trophy.
Iyer has faltered once again as he went back to the pavilion with a eight ball duck against Baroda in the first Ranji Trophy match. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt dismissed him as the batter edged the ball and the wicketkeeper had an easy catch.
Iyer wasn’t included in the BCCI central contract list and the Ranji Trophy now stands his best chance to restore his lost place in the team. He last played in the England Test series on home soil and since then hasn’t played for the country.
The 29 year old guided Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title earlier this year and ahead of the IPL retention his form has taken a topsy turvy turn. BCCI already announced the squad for the upcoming New Zealand series and Iyer will now aim to grab a ticket of that flight to Australia.
In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy India are scheduled to play a five match Test series on Australian soil and it could define India’s World Test championship future. Rohit Sharma’s men are now leading the WTC table and positive results could pave their way to the WTC final for a consecutive third time.
India’s squad for the three Tests against New Zealand
Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Travelling Reserves
Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.