Shreyas Iyer's withdrawal from India's second four-day game against Australia A has left everyone confused. The batter cited personal reasons and has also taken a formal six-month break from red-ball cricket. Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed Iyer's withdrawal on Thursday in an official statement. He also revealed that Iyer made the decision to manage his body due to fitness issues.
Iyer had been experiencing recurring back spasms and stiffness while playing the longer format. Reacting to Iyer's decision, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra was asked on ESPNCricinfo if he felt that it could have long-term repercussions in the future.
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He said, "It is actually (whether Shreyas Iyer taking a break from red-ball cricket is a significant development), especially for Shreyas Iyer, because there was a lot of noise about Shreyas Iyer’s non-inclusion in the Asia Cup. Everybody felt that he deserved a chance, and he was not a part of this, but he was made captain of India’s multi-day games against Australia A and with an eye on two back-to-back home Test series, he’s already a regular in the ODI format, he’s still not there in the T20 format but there is one format where he scored a century on his debut. He also gave an audition. He went and played Ranji Trophy, making himself available for red-ball cricket."
"Karun Nair going out of favour, I actually thought that Shreyas Iyer might find a place in the 15 for the West Indies series. But now with his decision, it might just have slightly longer repercussions and might not just be limited to these two matches or the two series. It might have long-term ramifications.
{{/usCountry}}"Karun Nair going out of favour, I actually thought that Shreyas Iyer might find a place in the 15 for the West Indies series. But now with his decision, it might just have slightly longer repercussions and might not just be limited to these two matches or the two series. It might have long-term ramifications.
{{/usCountry}}"Karun Nair is someone who is now unfortunate to miss out because he had a tough tour of England, but seems to be slightly out of favour, but Shreyas Iyer now falls in that list right at the bottom, or maybe not in the list anymore. Even the central contract, that will have a slightly different look to it as well. If he was a multi-format player, you go up the ladder, if you are not, then your category actually goes slightly B category kind of place, which doesn’t suit Shreyas Iyer the player. He’s too good a player," he added.