‘Fit’ & training, Shreyas Iyer likely to return to fore

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Since his Test debut in November 2021, Shreyas Iyer has scored runs in heaps including a century in his maiden outing against New Zealand. But a back injury meant he was not only ruled out of the three-match ODI series against visiting Sri Lanka last month but also had to miss the first Test against Australia in Nagpur.

It was considered to be a big setback for Rohit Sharma and Co as the ongoing four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy holds a great importance for the team if they wish to qualify for the World Test Championship final scheduled in June. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav, another Mumbai batter, made his Test debut albeit in somewhat mediocre fashion given his exploits with white-ball cricket.

So, when 28-year-old Iyer went about his drills at the nets at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the second Test starting Friday after successfully completing his rehab at the National Cricket Academy, all eyes were trained on him. More than anyone it was head coach Rahul Dravid, who kept a close watch on the middle-order batter. Once he replaced Shubman Gill at the nets in the afternoon, Dravid had a close look at the batter who has missed more than a month of international cricket. “It is always good to have somebody back from injury. We never like to lose people to injuries and it is never nice for a team, never nice for that individual. Glad that he (Iyer) is fit. We will take a call after a couple of training sessions.” Dravid told reporters in the press conference on Wednesday.

So will he be walking back in the playing XI given his form in the longest format, where he has scored 624 runs at an average of 56.72 from seven matches he has played so far? “Today, he has done some training. We will again assess it tomorrow (Thursday) as well when he comes in for a light hit and see how he feels. But certainly, if he is ready to take the load of a five-day Test match, then without doubt, with his performances in the past, he will walk straight into the side,” added Dravid, the former India skipper. Explaining the reasons behind the thought, the head coach said, “Yeah, without being written in stone or written in rule, certainly, we value contributions of people who have been there and missed out due to injury. They really deserve the right to come back irrespective of what has happened in the time they have been injured.”

Iyer played match-saving knocks in both innings of the second Test against hosts Bangladesh. But it’s not his match-winning innings that impressed Dravid. “Shreyas has played well but what has stood out is his temperament. Right through his debut game in Kanpur and in the last year and half, every time, he has been in tough situations, he, Rishabh (Pant) and (Ravindra) Jadeja are the ones who have been bailing us out and playing those critical knocks. In Bangladesh, we were under pressure and he bailed us out with (R) Ashwin and that’s a good sign. Along with his skill of playing spin really well, he has spent a lot of time in domestic cricket before getting in, obviously, he understands how to get runs.”

<br /> NEW DELHI: Since his Test debut in November 2021, Shreyas Iyer has scored runs in heaps including a century in his maiden outing against New Zealand. But a back injury meant he was not only ruled out of the three-match ODI series against visiting Sri Lanka last month but also had to miss the first Test against Australia in Nagpur.</p> <p>It was considered to be a big setback for Rohit Sharma and Co as the ongoing four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy holds a great importance for the team if they wish to qualify for the World Test Championship final scheduled in June. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav, another Mumbai batter, made his Test debut albeit in somewhat mediocre fashion given his exploits with white-ball cricket.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Suryakumar Yadav (L) might make<br /> way for Shreyas. (Photo | Parveen Negi)So, when 28-year-old Iyer went about his drills at the nets at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the second Test starting Friday after successfully completing his rehab at the National Cricket Academy, all eyes were trained on him. More than anyone it was head coach Rahul Dravid, who kept a close watch on the middle-order batter. Once he replaced Shubman Gill at the nets in the afternoon, Dravid had a close look at the batter who has missed more than a month of international cricket. “It is always good to have somebody back from injury. We never like to lose people to injuries and it is never nice for a team, never nice for that individual. Glad that he (Iyer) is fit. We will take a call after a couple of training sessions.” Dravid told reporters in the press conference on Wednesday.</p> <p>So will he be walking back in the playing XI given his form in the longest format, where he has scored 624 runs at an average of 56.72 from seven matches he has played so far? “Today, he has done some training. We will again assess it tomorrow (Thursday) as well when he comes in for a light hit and see how he feels. But certainly, if he is ready to take the load of a five-day Test match, then without doubt, with his performances in the past, he will walk straight into the side,” added Dravid, the former India skipper. Explaining the reasons behind the thought, the head coach said, “Yeah, without being written in stone or written in rule, certainly, we value contributions of people who have been there and missed out due to injury. They really deserve the right to come back irrespective of what has happened in the time they have been injured.”</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Iyer played match-saving knocks in both innings of the second Test against hosts Bangladesh. But it’s not his match-winning innings that impressed Dravid. “Shreyas has played well but what has stood out is his temperament. Right through his debut game in Kanpur and in the last year and half, every time, he has been in tough situations, he, Rishabh (Pant) and (Ravindra) Jadeja are the ones who have been bailing us out and playing those critical knocks. In Bangladesh, we were under pressure and he bailed us out with (R) Ashwin and that’s a good sign. Along with his skill of playing spin really well, he has spent a lot of time in domestic cricket before getting in, obviously, he understands how to get runs.”<br />