Shreyas Iyer dropped from Test team: Decoding his lean patch
Shreyas Iyer has been dropped from the Indian Test team for the final three Tests against England. Though Iyer complained of back spasms following the second Test in Vizag, an ESPNcricinfo report claimed that it was not serious enough to rule him out of the entire series. Moreover, BCCI did not give any specific reason behind his omission. Here we decode his lean patch.
Why does this story matter?
Iyer, who scored a stunning century on his Test debut in November 2021, has been far away from his best lately. He has not touched the 50-run mark in Tests since December 2022. Moreover, KL Rahul, who missed the second Test due to fitness issues, is back in the squad. In Iyer's absence, Rajat Patidar is all but likely to bat at number five.
No mention of Iyer's absence
Besides the names of the selected players for the final three Tests, the BCCI release had a couple of notes. It mentioned that Virat Kohli will miss the entire series due to personal reasons while Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja's availability is subject to fitness. As there was no mention of any injury to Iyer, it indicates that the batter has been dropped.
Iyer's prolonged lean patch
Since his 87 and 29* in the 2022 Dhaka Test against Bangladesh, Iyer has not even touched the 40-run mark in Tests. His scores in this lean period read 4, 12, 0, 26, 31, 6, 0, 4*, 35, 13, 27, 29. Since the start of 2023, Iyer has managed just 187 runs across seven Tests at 17.
His run in this series
The batter has been guilty of throwing away starts in the ongoing series. While he made 35 and 13 in India's 28-run defeat in the opener in Hyderabad, Iyer scored 27 and 29 in the second Test, which India won by 106 runs.
Here are his overall numbers
As of now, Iyer has smashed 811 runs from 14 matches at an average of 36.86 in Test cricket. The tally includes a ton and five half-centuries. His only Test ton came on his debut (against New Zealand in Kanpur). Iyer became the second Mumbai-born player to score a century in the debut Test innings after Pravin Amre (versus South Africa in 1992).