Shreyas Iyer dropped from Indian Test Team

India’s middle order batter Shreyas Iyer has been dropped from the Indian Test side for the first time in 2 years following a poor run of form in his last 4 Test matches against South Africa and England. He has been struggling to score runs since last year’s Border-Gavaskar trophy at home but he was given a long rope by the team management and captain Rohit Sharma.

However, now it seems as if the management’s patience level has gone down and as a result, Shreyas Iyer has been axed entirely from the 5-match Test series. Following India’s 2nd Test victory against the Three Lions by 106 runs last week, Iyer was seen having a lengthy chat with head coach Rahul Dravid in the dressing room of the ACA-VDCA stadium in Vizag.

Shreyas Iyer has been dropped from the Indian Test team. [Sports Tak] pic.twitter.com/1Vtzyf89kt

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Fans on social media and sources from various outlets interpreted that chat to be Dravid’s address to Iyer that his spot on the Test side is no longer fixed due to his own mistakes. Many others claimed that Dravid was giving him insights on his batting technique and how he can get over his lean patch which saw him not even being able to touch the 40-run mark across his last 12 Test innings.

And after BCCI announced the Indian squad for the remainder of the Test series against England, the rumor of Dravid telling Shreyas Iyer about not being given another long rope seems to be true instead of the technique talk. The 29-year-old who is regarded as a good batsman against spin, has given his wicket to only spinners across the 4 innings in Hyderabad and Vizag.

In the 2nd Test when India needed him to fire from number 5, Iyer left the crease with a soft dismissal off Tom Hartley as he under-edged the ball that remained very low to the gloves of Ben Foakes. Then in the 2nd innings when India needed him to fire at all cylinders, the right-hander got out for 29 by trying to play a down-the-track lofted shot off Tom Hartley before being caught by Ben Stokes at mid-off.

There was plenty of backlash thrown towards him for his poor performance which has now seen him get excluded from the Test series entirely. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod in Shreyas Iyer’s absence from the number 5 position which has remained a matter of concern even in his presence.

Who Will Replace Shreyas Iyer At 5? Rajat Patidar Or Sarfaraz Khan?

It will be a tw0 way race between Rajat Patidar who originally came in as Virat Kohli’s replacement from the 1st Test and Sarfaraz Khan who came in as KL Rahul’s replacement in the 2nd Test, to replace Shreyas Iyer from number 5. While Patidar could only show glimpses of his solid gameplay, Sarfaraz still awaits his chance to earn his debut cap for the Indian national side.

Both of the batters performed equally well for the India A side during their unofficial Tests against the England Lions in Ahmedabad. With figures on their side, the batter to make the final cut remains to be seen.