Shreyas Iyer, currently out of favour with the Indian Test team and not part of the central contract, finally ended his three-year wait for a first-class century. The right-handed batter scored a knock of 142 in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy second-round match against Maharashtra on Saturday.
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Speaking to media, Iyer, who hasn’t featured in India’s Test set-up since India’s home Test series against England earlier this year, scored a century and made the statement to the selectors that he is keen to make a comeback.
“I am absolutely keen for a comeback, but yeah, as we say, control the controllables and as always to keep performing and keep participating as much as possible and also see to it that my body is in the best shape. So I will take the best decision possible according to that,” Iyer told the reporters at the end of the day’s play.
This century would mean much to Shreyas, who had been through poor form prior to this. He could score only 154 runs in six Duleep Trophy innings, with two fifties and two ducks. In the Irani Cup he compiled 57 and 8 in the two innings,and he also registered a duck in the Ranji Trophy opener against Baroda.
So far, Iyer has played 14 Test matches for India, scoring 811 runs at an average of 36.86, which includes 1 century and 5 fifties.
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Prior to this, the 29-year-old’s last first-class century for India was against New Zealand in Kanpur in November last year. A century like this in the Ranji Trophy would have really boosted his confidence.
Coming back after a very long time, obviously I was feeling a bit down with my injuries, but now getting a century after a very long time, it’s a great feeling overall,” Iyer added.
For Iyer to make a comeback, he faces tough competition from players like Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, and KL Rahul, who are ahead of him in the pecking order. Iyer will need to be in the form of his life in domestic cricket to prompt selectors to reconsider him.
There are also other players in the domestic circuit performing well but not getting chances due to the current form of Indian Test players. Since KL Rahul hasn’t performed well for an extended period, he could be dropped in the future, opening the door for players like Iyer to return.
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