NEW DELHI: It’s been a year full of ups and downs for Shreyas Iyer, as at the beginning of the year, he was dropped from the Indian Test squad midway through the home series against England. Later, when he skipped a Ranji Trophy game due to a back injury, the BCCI didn’t see this action of his appropriate, and thus he didn’t receive a central contract.
After some time he joined his domestic side of Mumbai, helping them win the Ranji Trophy, but the highest point of his year came in the IPL, where he led the Kolkata Knight Riders to an IPL title after a 12-year drought.
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Although Iyer managed to bag a place in India’s squad for the ODI tour of Sri Lanka earlier this summer, his performance throughout the tour didn’t help his cause. While his aim still remained on focusing on a red ball international return, the star batter had to be persistent because of his long battles against the back injury problem that recurred time and again.
Prior to being called up for the Duleep Trophy, Iyer competed in the preseason Buchi Babu tournament in hopes of earning a spot in the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand in September and October. However, aside from two half-century scores, which also came in the Irani Cup earlier this month, he had nothing to show.
In the current Ranji Trophy season, Iyer silenced his detractors on Saturday by hitting 142 off 190 for Mumbai against Maharashtra. He hadn’t hit the triple-figure mark since his Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur, so it was his first first-class century in three years.
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After the “special” ton, he wrote to the BCCI selectors, claiming he is “absolutely keen for a comeback” and that his back is 100% fine.
“Coming back after a very long time, obviously I was feeling a bit down with my injuries, but now getting a century after a very long time, it’s a great feeling,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Iyer. “I am absolutely keen for a [Test] comeback, but yeah, as we say, control the controllables, and my job is to keep performing and keep participating as much as possible and also see with that my body is in the best shape. So I’ll take the best decision possible according to that.”