Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
Is Shreyas Iyer injured? According to a media report, the Mumbai batsman has written an email to the BCCI, informing that he will be “taking a break from red-ball cricket” for the time being to address his long-standing back issue. No way is this correspondent questioning the veracity of the report. But no confirmation has come yet from the BCCI, with the Indian squad for the two-Test home series against the West Indies set to be picked on Wednesday.
This has come on the heels of Shreyas pulling out of the second multi-day game for India A against Australia A. And even the India A team insiders ostensibly doesn’t have an idea exactly what is the reason. “Absolutely no idea,” said one of them.
Shreyas was appointed captain of the India A side for the two unofficial Tests, seemingly as a precursor to his Test return. Now, if he is struggling to be on the field for four-five days, a clear communication would help.
Asked if Shreyas has sent an email to the BCCI, informing them of his red-ball unavailability, Abey Kuruvilla, the cricket board’s general manager said: “I can’t comment.” It threw open scope for reading between the lines. The BCCI has been wonderfully cooperative and supportive of the designated Indian cricket reporters. After the 2024 T20 World Cup final, Jay Shah, the current ICC chair, who was then the BCCI secretary, came to the rescue of the Indian journalists who were stranded in Barbados, with the country on high alert due to Hurricane Beryl.
Shah offered the reporters to fly with the Indian team on a special charter flight from Barbados to New Delhi. The former BCCI secretary has moved to helm world cricket. As for the current cricket board hierarchy, an official communication would help avoid speculation.
Shreyas reportedly was asked by chief selector Ajit Agarkar to make his red-ball pull-out request official after the player informed him verbally that he was struggling to be on the field for two consecutive days. In fact, the back problem has been a recurring issue for him for a few years now. In 2023, he underwent a surgery to be fit for the 50-over World Cup. The issue resurfaced a year later, during the home Test series against England. Shreyas was dropped from the squad. And when he skipped a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai, that created some misunderstanding.
The 30-year-old was removed from the central contract. It was a time when Shreyas was developing back spasms after facing just 60 balls at the nets, but as per the required procedure, he didn’t check in at the National Cricket Academy.
Shreyas was reinstated in the list of centrally contracted players this term. His Asia Cup omission caused public outrage. But he was firmly in the scheme of things for the Test series against West Indies until this latest development.
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