On Sunday, September 8, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for the first Test of the home series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team, and Shreyas Iyer was not included in the squad.
Shreyas Iyer recently returned to the Indian ODI squad for the tour of Sri Lanka after being excluded from the BCCI central contracts. He failed to impress with his performances and returned with scores of 23, 7 and 8 in three ODI matches.
Even after failing in the Sri Lanka ODIs, Shreyas Iyer was expected to make it to India’s Test squad for the Bangladesh series, considering his records and performances at home.
Moreover, Shreyas Iyer was working hard to make a comeback in the Test game and was named as the captain of India D in the first round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy. In the match against India C, Shreyas Iyer posted scores of 9 and 54 which did not seem to impress the Indian selectors.
Also Read: India squad announced for first Test against Bangladesh, Yash Dayal called up
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel are the batsmen of choice for the Bangladesh Test series.
Shreyas Iyer was last seen in action wearing white for the Indian National Cricket Team in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam, and after that, he was left out of the squad for the remaining three Test matches.
There were conflicting reports at the time about Iyer’s exclusion from the team, with some claiming that he was dropped after recording low scores of 35, 13, 27 and 29 in the first two Tests, while others claimed that he was not fit enough and was facing back problems.
Meanwhile, the selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India have also dropped Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal from the Test squad. It is noteworthy that the duo played the home Test matches against England earlier in the year.
In total, Iyer has played 14 matches for India in the purest format of the game and has scored 811 runs at an average of 36.86, with one century and five half-centuries. When he was dropped from the team, X-fans reacted by criticising BCCI for this decision.
This is how fans reacted to Shreyas Iyer’s snub:
Kl will fail in both innings and Iyer will come in 🙏
— Advocate Prakash (@PrakashMah73142) September 8, 2024
🚨 Shreyas Iyer was dropped from T20I cricket and now he has been dropped from Test cricket as well, only ODIs are left for him now. pic.twitter.com/eZUEHafPnV
— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) September 8, 2024
No Shreyas Iyer. No Harshit Rana. No favouritism from former KKR coach Gautam Gambhir. Well done 🙌
— Aman (@CricketSatire) September 8, 2024
Shreyas Iyer is no longer available. It’s time for him to make a strong comeback by performing in the Duleep Trophy 👊 pic.twitter.com/gmfKvK17xO
— Yash. (@105of70Mumbai) September 8, 2024
As much as I know, Iyer is a fan of yours and knows that you are a strong and resilient character with a clear mind. You will up your game and come back with renewed vigor. Mark my words! #ShreyasIyer
— 👨MAN-DEVILLE😈 (@23Mandeville) September 8, 2024
No Ruturaj and Iyer, shocking 😱
— Mayank Dubey (@Mayank_S_Dubey) September 8, 2024
There is no place for Shreyas Iyer in the squad announced for the Bangladesh Test series.
He has been dropped from the Test squad. #CricketTwitter #BCCI pic.twitter.com/x8nEJXRwt6
— A Kumar (@Am_official007) September 8, 2024
@Deep_Point_ Kuch to baat rahi hogi kl Rahul ke 57 mein Iyer ke 54 nahi dekh 😯🤔🤔
– Aman Hindu (Chaubey ji) (@Aman_SRT_24) September 8, 2024
Iyer is missing 🥲
— Teja Reddy (@Tejareddy045) September 8, 2024
Why has Shreyas Iyer not been selected for India’s squad for the Test series against Bangladesh? Who is responsible for this? pic.twitter.com/ejymiUpF1g
– Suhana (@suhana18_) September 8, 2024
What did you eat and what was your problem?
– Ujjwal (@Ujjwal333) September 8, 2024