Shreyas Iyer departs for just 3 runs in return to domestic cricket during Ranji Trophy semi-final clash
Indian batter Shreyas Iyer failed to impress in his highly-anticipated return to domestic cricket after being dismissed for three runs during the ongoing Ranji Trophy semi-final encounter between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu on Sunday, March 3.
Shreyas had walked out to bat at No. 6 in the 39th over following Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane's dismissal. He was welcomed to the crease with a bouncer by a right-arm pacer Sandeep Warrier. Shreyas was dismissed by the same bowler in the first ball of the 41st over, courtesy of a horrid shot that saw his stumps shattered.
The right-handed batter was added to the Mumbai squad for the semi-final clash after he had made himself unavailable for the quarter-finals citing injury issues. However, the physios at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) made it clear that Shreyas was not nursing any injuries, and the fact that he attended the pre-season camp for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) did not help his case.
Following the BCCI's strict mandate that instructs players to compete in domestic tournaments whenever possible, Shreyas found himself included in the Mumbai squad. Despite his return to domestic cricket, the 29-year-old was not named by the BCCI in their central contract list for the upcoming season.
Shreyas Iyer last played for India during the second Test against England
Shreyas Iyer was struggling for runs following poor returns in the South Africa tour as well as the ongoing home Test series against England. While there were claims that his absence from the squad for the latter part of the series was due to an injury, a lack of clarification by BCCI in their press release, leads one to believe that the elegant batter was dropped because of his poor form.
Shreyas scored only 104 runs in four innings in the series against England, with Team India moving onto other domestic stalwarts like Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan for the middle-order role in Tests.
Following Shreyas' departure in the first session, Mumbai have been reduced to 101-5 in their first innings on Day 2. Earlier in the semi-final contest, Tamil Nadu were bundled out for just 146 after opting to bat first at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in Mumbai.