Shreyas Iyer's Test Cricket Dilemma: Fitness, Form, and Selection Woes

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee decided not to include Shreyas Iyer in the team for the last three Test matches of the series, one day before India won the second Test to tie the series.


However, Shubman Gill escaped an impending axe by scoring a century in Visakhapatnam's second innings. But Iyer's troubles with the bat were well-documented, so the writing was clearly on the wall.

Iyer had excused himself from the selection committee on Friday, citing back pain, hours before the group was scheduled to convene. The selectors had hoped he would play in several Ranji matches to hone his technical deficiencies, but he will now need to spend time at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for rehabilitation.

Although Iyer has always had trouble with short-pitched pitches, some analysts believe that he is now among the best at confronting spin when playing at home. His performances in the first four innings of the series, which were in Hyderabad on innings 35 and 13, and Visakhapatnam on innings 27 and 29, have been insufficient and unfluent.

Iyer hasn't hit a half-century in his in 13 innings, and his last noteworthy performance was an 87 against Bangladesh at Mirpur in December 2022. He also had a poor effort in the two Test matches played in South Africa.

Iyer's spot was in doubt since KL Rahul will soon be back for the Rajkot Test, and the selectors were probably going to give Rajat Patidar another chance.

Even though Iyer's fitness wasn't a problem for the team's medical personnel in Visakhapatnam, it was discovered that he had developed an unexpected stiffness a day or two after the Test.

Nevertheless, he showed incredible agility on the field throughout the game, even running Ben Stokes out with a straight shot after an amazing dash from short mid-wicket.

Iyer demonstrated his fitness by following the selectors' instructions and played a Ranji match for Mumbai against Andhra before to the Test series.

His back spasm during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy's fourth Test last year was caused by a slipped disc or "nerve compression" that required surgery.

He was therefore unable to play in the most of India's home and away matches and was only available for the Asia Cup in September.

He was only able to play in two matches due to recurrent back spasms, but he made a good comeback in the ODI World Cup, scoring 530 runs in 11 matches.

This season in the IPL, he is anticipated to be available for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

He was passed over for the home series against Afghanistan and the series in South Africa, so he hasn't been given much thought for the T20Is lately.

Iyer's level of fitness has always been mysterious, and the stiffness in his back will only make things more so. If the selectors want to consider players other than Iyer for Test cricket, it won't be shocking.

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