 "Mumbai's Shreyas Iyer during a warm-up session before the start of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 cricket match between Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh, at Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground, in Jaipur, Tuesday. PTI")
Shreyas Iyer returned to competitive action on Tuesday and continued from where he left off before an unfortunate spleen injury ruled him out for almost two-and-a-half months. The right-hander captained Mumbai in their latest Vijay Hazare Trophy clash against Himachal Pradesh and hit a brilliant 82 from only 53 deliveries to take his side to a formidable total of 299/9 in 33 overs.
The match was reduced to 33 overs after two hours of play were lost to due to dense fog at the Jaipuria Vidhyalaya Ground in Jaipur. Iyer batted at number four and warmed up for his India return with an outstanding innings on comeback.
Iyer shines, other stars fail
In the must win match for Mumbai, they lost the toss and were put into bat first. Star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal could only score 15 from 18 before getting out while Sarfaraz Khan struck 21 from just 10 balls and fell as the second wicket.
Iyer then joined Musheer Khan in the middle and the duo turned the game around with a partnership of 82 runs from 52 balls for the third wicket. Musheer too batted aggressively before getting out on 73 from 51 balls.
Iyer kept going and hit three sixes and 10 fours in his innings before missing out on a well deserved ton. He was dismissed by left-arm spinner Kushal Pal, a bowler he dominated earlier in his innings.
Iyer, the vice captain of the Indian ODI side, was selected for the upcoming New Zealand series if he was fully cleared to participate. The right-hander had suffered a spleen injury while attempting a catch in Australia in October last year. The injury was scary and he was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding. However, he seems to have fully recovered now and most likely will return to India colours this Sunday when the series against New Zealand kicks off.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube could not contribute much to Mumbai’s total. India T20I captain Suryakumar could only get 24 runs to his name while the hard-hitting Dube scored just 20.