Shreyas Iyer found himself in the spotlight recently, if not necessarily for his own making. What followed was a wave of favourable headlines and sympathetic debate nationwide but that may have been of little comfort for the Asia Cup snub for the in-form batter. The fact remained that he was left out, strangely enough, for the continental T20 championship. But an opportunity seems to beckon. The Australians, after all, are touring india.
The Iyer issue will be the focal point before the selectors whenever they meet to pick the side but it is not whether he will be selected for the India A team that will take on Australia A. The central issue is what role he gets. It is likely he will get a prominent role in the side, captaincy or otherwise. The Aussies will be in India next week and are scheduled to play two four-day red ball games followed by three white ball matches.
Iyer is currently in Bengaluru, representing West Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone. His performance in the first innings was rather underwhelming, having been cleaned up by Khaleel Ahmed for 25. But it is unlikely the brief but breezy knock will have any impact on his selection, for the two red ball games, if not for the three white-ball matches.
Iyer was one of the top batters in the IPL but he missed out on the selection for the T20 side for Asia Cup, starting in UAE on September 9 but the fact that he seems to be in the reckoning for red-ball games is an indication that he will be in consideration for future matches - be it for the home Test series against West Indies in October or subsequent away red-ball series in Australia.
Apart from Iyer, top performers of the ongoing Duleep Trophy may be considered for selection apart from a few others like Nitish Reddy, A Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan. Playerers like N Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rajat Patidar among others, could be in the thoughts of the selectors.
The first of the two four-day games between India A and Australia A starts in Lucknow on September 16, just a day after the Duleep Trophy final starting September 11, is scheduled to conclude. So it is likely the selection will be done a few days after the ongoing semifinals, which ends on September 7. The second red ball game is from September 23 to 26, also in Lucknow, followed by three white ball matches on September 30, October 3 and October 5, all in Kanpur.
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