Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

Is Shreyas Iyer on a slippery slope? The question has to be asked. There doesn’t seem to be imminent danger with regard to losing his place in the Test squad. But it is learnt that the message has been conveyed to him in no uncertain terms by the people concerned – read, selectors and team management – that he needs to do better in red-ball cricket. Over the last one year, Iyer’s Test form has headed south. In five Tests during this period – three against Australia at home and two in South Africa – he has scored 83 runs…

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday that the pitch for the second Test between South Africa and India at Newlands has been rated as “unsatisfactory”. Accordingly, the venue has received one demerit point. The game in Cape Town lasted just 642 legal deliveries — the shortest in the history of Test cricket — and was over in a day-and-a-half. Twenty-three wickets fell on Day One, with Mohammed Siraj taking a career-best 6/15 and the hosts getting bundled out for 55 in their first innings. From that perspective, an “unsatisfactory” rating, which amounts to ‘below average’, is dubious enough…