Shreyas Iyer takes a break from red-ball cricket with immediate effect

The Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has requested the Indian selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, for an indefinite break from red-ball cricket, according to reports published on The Indian Express.

It’s important to note that Iyer, who captained the India A side against Australia A in the first unofficial Test, has decided to pull out of the second unofficial Test. In his absence, Dhruv Jurel has been named as the captain. However, it’s still not known why Iyer has pulled out of the game.

The Indian Express report further stated that Iyer informed the selection committee that he wouldn’t be able to field for more than four days, as he has been suffering from a stiff back and he couldn’t make it big in the longest format of the game with the stiffness. 

“He has informed us that he (Iyer) will be taking a break from red ball cricket and it’s good that he has cleared it out because selectors are now clear about his future. He won’t be playing red ball cricket in coming months and he has informed the board that he will assess his body in future in consultation with physios and trainer and take a call on it,” a source confirmed The Indian Express.

Notably, Iyer has been in contention for the two-match Test series against West Indies, which is scheduled to start on October 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. However, with him taking a break now, he has been ruled out of the series and selectors would be looking at alternate options to fill his place.

India's predicted Test squad for West Indies series: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Narayanan Jagadeesan (wk), Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel.

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