Pictures: Shreyas Iyer joins Team India, resumes training ahead of IND vs AUS 2nd Test
Shreyas Iyer has begun his training after joining Team India ahead of the second Test against Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, which starts on Friday, February 17.
The Mumbai batter took to Twitter to share snapshots from his latest training session. In one of the posts, he could be seen taking tips from Team India head coach Rahul Dravid.
🇮🇳 https://t.co/H8oEWkDo9e
The right-hander has completed his rehabilitation after recovering from a back injury that ruled him out of the ODI series against New Zealand and the first Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The BCCI’s latest update on Iyer reads:
“India batter Shreyas Iyer has successfully completed his rehab at the National Cricket Academy following his back injury and has been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team. Shreyas will join the squad in New Delhi ahead of the second Test of the Mastercard Australia tour of India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”
The 28-year-old recently shone for Team India in Bangladesh, scoring 202 runs at an average of 101 in the two-Test series. The visitors won the series 2-0.
He will walk straight into the XI if he is fit: Rahul Dravid on Shreyas Iyer ahead of Delhi Test
Rahul Dravid has confirmed that Shreyas Iyer will be part of the playing XI for the Delhi Test if he is deemed fit to play.
Speaking at a press conference, he said:
"It's always great to have somebody back from injury. We never like to lose people because of injury. It's not for us as a team, not nice for the individual. I'm glad that he is back and fit. We'll take a call after a couple of days of training.”
Dravid added:
“He's had a long session today, he has done some training. We will assess it tomorrow as well once he comes for a light hit and see how it goes. If he is fit and ready to go and take the load of five days of a Test match, then without a doubt with his past performances, he will walk straight into the XI.”
The right-hander is expected to strengthen India's middle order, which failed to deliver in the opening Test. Team India, however, won the first game by an innings and 132 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.
In such a scenario, Suryakumar Yadav might have to warm the bench after failing to deliver on his Test debut, having scored eight runs in Nagpur.
The hosts will look to win the Delhi Test and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India’s squad for second Test: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav