Shreyas Iyer returns for Ranji Trophy, named in Mumbai's squad for semi-final

Shreyas Iyer has been included in Mumbai’s squad for the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu. The match will take place from 2 March at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

Iyer, and Ishan Kishan, had come under fire for missing Ranji Trophy matches despite being fit. The 29-year-old had been pulled out of the England series after complaining of back spasms. But, controversially, an NCA doctor said he was fit and was released without complications.

Iyer and Kishan have drawn attention recently with BCCI secretary Jay Shah and India skipper Rohit Sharma indirectly speaking about players missing domestic cricket in order to prepare for the lucrative IPL ahead.

More from First Cricket News

How Gautam Gambhir’s simple plan transformed India’s Test batting in England 'Mike Hesson should not act as Pakistan cricket's father': Ex-Pak cricketer slams New Zealand coach amid poor results

Rohit said only those "have the hunger" will be considered for the Indian cricket team in the longest format. “If you want success and want to excel in this tough format then you need that hunger. It is very important. We will give opportunity only to players who have that hunger. You come to know [easily] the players who don’t have that hunger, [or] players who don’t want to stay here [and play this format]. We come to know that,” said Rohit after India took an unassailable 3-1 lead against England.

“Players who have that hunger, players who want to stay here and perform, [and] play in tough conditions, we will give preference to them. Obviously, it is pretty simple: if you don’t have hunger, there’s no meaning playing such players,” he added.

Impact Shorts

View All

'Won't require surgery...': Real reason behind Jasprit Bumrah's absence from 5th Test revealed in new report

PCB bans players from WCL over India-Pakistan match controversy

Iyer was reportedly due to play the quarter-final against Baroda, but skipped it as a precautionary measure. However, Shreyas had earlier played in the domestic competition against Andhra Pradesh in December, ahead of the England series.

He was included for the first two Test matches against England but was not included for the final three clashes. In the two matches he scored 29, 27, 13 and 35. In his absence, Mumbai teammate Sarfaraz Khan was given a debut cap and struck twin fifties in Rajkot.

Mumbai squad for semi-final: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal, Musheer Khan, Prasad Pawar, Hardik Tamore, Shardul Thakur, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Aditya Dhumal, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi, Royston Dias, Dhawal Kulkarni