Shreyas Iyer would have never made it to England... but his time will come: Ex-India opener

There was plenty of chatter last month after the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had on 24 May announced India's squad for the five-Test series in England, which got underway last Friday at Headingley, Leeds and concluded in a five-wicket victory for the home team.

And among the key takeaways from the squad announcement was the confirmation of top-order batter Shubman Gill succeeding Rohit Sharma as India Test captain, as well as the maiden Test call-ups to Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh and a recall for Karun Nair after eight long years.

There were also some murmur over the exclusion of senior middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, who had been having a solid run in ODIs and had led Punjab Kings from the front in the Indian Premier League, guiding them into the final in his maiden season in charge.

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And to back his claim to a spot in the Test side, Iyer had also been having a solid domestic run – scoring 480 runs in the most recent season of the Ranji Trophy at an average of 68.57.

Chopra cites Sarfaraz and Jurel as examples while explaining Iyer’s absence

Former India opener Aakash Chopra, however, feels there was no chance for Iyer to get included in the Indian middle-order for England despite his strong domestic run. Iyer has not played Test cricket since he was dropped midway during the five-match Test series against England at home last year.

“There is no problem with the batting as such. But he has to wait for his chances; he won’t get a chance straightaway right now. He would’ve never made it to the squad for the England tour. The remaining ones also haven’t had their chance,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“If you think about it, Karun Nair has played just now. Sarfaraz Khan is not being given the chances. Dhruv Jurel is sitting outside. The players who are already there, if they aren’t only getting the chances, then how can Shreyas Iyer get a look in?

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“I know he had a good first-class season. He had a good IPL, took Punjab Kings to the final. He did well in white-ball cricket, but his time will come. He will have to wait just a little bit,” the former India opener added.

Newly-appointed Test captain Shubman Gill and his deputy Rishabh Pant occupy Nos 4 and 5 in the Indian middle order, the former occupying the slot that previously belonged to batting superstar Virat Kohli, and to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar before him.

Karun Nair, who made his first appearance for the Indian team in eight years at Headingley, came in at No 6 with all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur occupying the next two slots.

Iyer, however, remains integral to India’s ODI middle-order, having starred in India’s dominant run to the final in the 2023 World Cup as well as their triumph in the Champions Trophy earlier this year.