Shreyas Iyer‘s return to the Indian team remains uncertain after he was removed by the BCCI from the central contract list earlier this year after he ignored the board’s directive on compulsory participation in domestic tournaments when away from international action. However, Shreyas Iyer‘s international career will likely get a new lease of life with Gautam Gambhir’s expected appointment as India’s head coach.
Gambhir, who is the leading contender to succeed Rahul Dravid for the India head coach position after the 2024 T20 World Cup, formed a successful partnership with Iyer during Kolkata Knight Riders’ successful run to a third IPL title haul last month. KKR had bounced back from two successive seasons of seventh-position finish after Gambhir was appointed as the mentor for the franchise before the start of the 2024 season, while Iyer returned after a year of absence owing to his back injury.
Shreyas Iyer to make a comeback to the Indian team
With India set to travel to Sri Lanka in July-August, after touring Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series next month, which will be Gambhir’s first appointment as head coach, Iyer is likely to be picked for both the white-ball campaigns, with more realistic chances of being added to the ODI squad for the matches against the 1996 world champions.
Iyer was earlier removed from BCCI’s central contracts, along with wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, after their apparent reluctance to play Ranji Trophy. The Mumbai batter was dropped from the Indian Test side during the series against England earlier this week, after which he was reportedly nursing from a back injury and hence had missed the quarterfinal match. However, he did return for the semifinal and the final before heading into the IPL tournament.
Meanwhile Shreyas Iyer congratulated Team India for their triumph in World Cup 2024.
Shreyas Iyer sends message to Team India after T20 World Cup 2024 win
Shreyas Iyer sent a congratulatory message to Team India after their T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in Barbados. The star Indian batter wrote on X that he was proud of every member of the 15-man squad that lifted the title.
India beat South Africa by seven runs in an epic final on Saturday (June 29) at the Kensington Oval. With this victory, India became the first team to win a T20 World Cup without losing a match in the tournament. Before the final, India defeated Ireland, Pakistan, USA, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Australia, and England. Their group-stage match against Canada was abandoned due to rain.
Taking to X after India’s win, Shreyas Iyer posted a photo from the team’s celebrations and wrote:
“Dominating. Unstoppable. And simply brilliant! So proud of you boys! Congratulations to everyone involved in this historic feat. World Champions!”
Iyer was the vice-captain of the Indian T20I squad that played against Australia in November 2023. However, he could not make it to the Indian team for T20 World Cup 2024.
Shreyas Iyer not playing the T20 World Cup 2024
A few weeks ago, Shreyas Iyer won the IPL 2024 trophy as the Kolkata Knight Riders captain. Iyer led the team from the front with spectacular batting performances throughout the season.
However, the BCCI selection committee did not pick him in the T20 World Cup squad. The selectors preferred Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube in the middle-order over Iyer.
In case you didn’t know, Iyer was involved in a controversy during the Ranji Trophy season earlier this year, following which he lost his BCCI central contract. He has not been selected in any Indian squad since. He was also not named in the Indian squad for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.