Shreyas Iyer's aggression cost him his place to Karun Nair in India Test squad vs England- Report

Shreyas Iyer's omission from the India Test squad for the England tour has become a talking point because of his consistent performance in domestic cricket. The selectors chose Karun Nair over Shreyas Iyer for the England Test series.

Karun Nair returned to the India Test squad after eight years. Nair also proved himself in domestic cricket and now the truth as to why selectors picked him over Shreyas Iyer in the squad is slowly coming out.

Karun Nair over Shreyas Iyer

A media report in Cricblogger suggested that the aggressive intent of Iyer was compared with Karun Nair’s calm and composed intent on the ground was the main reason behind the selection of Nair over Iyer.

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Nair and Iyer both had a brilliant season with the bat in domestic cricket, but Nair has been proving himself consistently in many seasons in domestic cricket. While Iyer performed well in the previous domestic season. Nair got the favor from the selectors and picked over Iyer.

However, BCCI sources said that if Iyer continues his performance and Nair doesn’t perform well in the England tour, then Iyer will become an automatic choice over Nair.

“Shreyas’ recent form in ODIs and IPL also makes him a candidate for the red ball team,” a board official said while adding the reason behind Iyer not figuring in the India-A team right away.

Sai Sudarshan picked over Shreyas Iyer

Sai Sudarshan was also a direct competition for Iyer in the Test squad, and like Nair, Sai was also picked for the England tour. According to the Cricblogger report, Sai was selected for his consistent performance in domestic cricket, not for his IPL performances.

Sai has been scoring runs for Tamil Nadu in first-class cricket as well. His ability to bat on any track has given him an edge over other experienced players picked up for the England tour.

“The selectors made it clear a player’s white ball form can’t be a criteria for red ball team selection. This probably is for the first time that the selectors are deciding their teams in three formats based on the performance of a particular format,” the source added.

Rishabh Pant was also appointed as the new vice-captain for the Indian Test team despite his poor performance in the IPL. Pant’s IPL performance hasn’t affected his position in red-ball cricket.

Shreyas Iyer’s Test career

Iyer made his Test debut on November 25, 2021, against New Zealand in Kanpur. Iyer received his Test cap from Sunil Gavaskar and also scored a ton in his debut Test match.

Iyer has played just 14 Test matches in his career so far and has also been dropped from the red-ball team a few times.

Shreyas scored 811 Test runs in 24 innings at an 36.86 average. He has only one hundred, which came in his debut Test match, and scored five half-centuries in his Test career.

Read also: Shashank Singh reveals inside details of how Shreyas Iyer-Ricky Ponting deal with Punjab Kings players