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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked the newly appointed T20I captain, Shreyas Iyer, to join the national camp ahead of the 3-match ODI series between India and Afghanistan. As per the BCCI’s directives, Iyer will join the camp soon.
A few days' break after the conclusion of the IPL 2026 season, Iyer joined SoBo Mumbai Falcons for the 2026 T20 Mumbai League. He has played a few matches there with the Falcons, but he will have to leave the tournament as the board has asked him to join the national camp.
Shreyas Iyer to join the national camp
According to a Mumbai Mirror report, Shreyas Iyer has been asked by the BCCI to join the national camp in Chandigarh on Tuesday ahead of the ODI series against Afghanistan. Thus, as Iyer will have to leave the ongoing state franchise league, the Falcons will have to announce a new captain for the remainder of the season. Iyer is expected to miss the rest of the 2026 T20 Mumbai League.
“Shreyas will join the team tomorrow. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will link up after completing their fitness assessments at the CoE in Bengaluru,” a source close to the development told the media house.
In today's Mumbai Mirror:) pic.twitter.com/FUsjCKfjfk
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Aditya Tare is likely to replace Iyer
As of now, SoBo Mumbai Falcons are scheduled to play at least two more matches in the ongoing season. They will be up against Aakash Tigers MWS and North Mumbai Panthers on June 9 and June, respectively. Shreyas Iyer will miss both of the matches. Aditya Tare is expected to lead the side in the absence of Iyer.
So far, Iyer has played three matches for the franchise. In these three games, the experienced batter scored 5, 30, and 61 in the tournament. In his last match with the Falcons, Shreyas Iyer helped his team to register a crucial win over Suryakumar Yadav’s Triumph Knights.
Shreyas Iyer is the deputy of the ODI captain Shubman Gill, so he will have to be in the training from the beginning. As the report mentions, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are also expected to join the camp ahead of the 50-overs series. Rohit and Hardik’s participation is still under concern as they had injury reasons during the IPL 2026 season with the Mumbai Indians.
Concerns over Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
Because of the hamstring injury of Rohit Sharma and the back spasm of Hardik Pandya, the BCCI wants them to pass the fitness tests at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. After the one-off Test against Afghanistan, which was won by India by an innings and 300 runs in Mullanpur, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that he had not heard anything demotivating about Rohit and Hardik. During the squad announcement, the board mentioned that their participation in the series is subject to their fitness status.
The ODI series against Afghanistan is going to be crucial for Shreyas Iyer as it will be his first match with the national team after being appointed as the leader of the T20 International format. He will want to score a significant amount of runs before the UK tour, where he will make his debut as Team India captain.
