The 29-year-old India National Cricket Team star batsman Shreyas Iyer has rejected the offer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to feature for India A in the series against England Lions to prepare himself for the home Test series against England National Cricket Team.
India A are set to go head-to-head with England Lions in a tour match and a three-match unofficial Test series. The assignment is set to be played from January 12 to February 4.
During this timeframe, India will play a three-match home T20I series against Afghanistan and the first two of the five-match Test series against the England National Cricket Team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already named India’s T20I squad for the series against the Afghanistan National Cricket Team, but the governing body is yet to name the squad for the England Test series.
Shreyas Iyer was surprisingly left out of the squad for the T20I series against Afghanistan, but the reports at that time suggested that the BCCI had rested him. However, according to some new reports, the BCCI actually dropped him from the T20I setup following the return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Iyer last featured for India National Cricket in T20I cricket during the last home series against Australia. He was the vice-captain of the team for the last two of the five-match T20I series in November-December and even slammed a magnificent half-century in his last T20I innings.
Shreyas Iyer Picks Ranji Trophy Over India A Matches – Reports
According to the reports in Indian Express, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had provided Shreyas Iyer with the option to play for India A in the series against England Lions in Ahmedabad. However, Iyer decided to play Ranji Trophy 2024 instead.
Shreyas Iyer communicated with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) about his availability for the next match of Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2024 against Andhra. The match between the teams is scheduled to be held between January 12-15 at Bandra Kurla Complex.
Now, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has included Shreyas Iyer in the squad and he will be seen donning the Mumbai jersey once again. He will replace Sarfaraz Khan in the squad as the latter has been included in India A squad.
The 41-time Ranji Trophy champions began their campaign on a high by defeating Bihar by an innings and 51 runs to gain seven points.
Talking about Shreyas Iyer, he had a horrible time in the recent Test series against South Africa National Cricket Team. He registered scores of 31 & 6 in the first Test and 0 & 4* in the second Test.
Despite Shreyas Iyer failing to make any major contributions with the bat against South Africa, the Rohit Sharma-led India managed to level the series 1-1 by winning the last Test in Cape Town.
Mumbai Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal, Suved Parkar, Prasad Pawar (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Mohit Avasthi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Royston Dias, Sylvester Dsouza.
