Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube Face Severe Criticism For Skipping Ranji Trophy Match

Indian cricketers Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube came under fire recently for skipping Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy game against Railways that took place on December 25. Instead of representing Mumbai, they both decided to rest. Their absence turned out to be a huge blow for Mumbai as they suffered a ten-wicket defeat inside three days.

However, Shardul Thakur, who was part of team’s squad against West Indies willfully turned up for the Railways game, whereas Dube did not play the last two games of the West Indies series. It was when the former Mumbai cricketers were absolutely livid with Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube for not playing for Mumbai even when they weren’t playing for the Indian team.

“Mumbai team ni mast dabba ghatla (Mumbai team put out a very poor show. Very poor from the team. Disappointed to see @ Shreyaslyer15 & glamShivam-Dube not being a part of the Mumbai set up for this game when the international game is 5 days away. Would like to see the best team playing when possible. #RanjiTrophy,” former India batsman Vinod Kambli tweeted.

Besides Vinod Kambli, Shishir Hattangadi also criticised Shreyas Iyer

Former Mumbai opener Shishir Hattangadi took to his official Twitter handle to question why Shreyas Iyer didn’t turn up for Mumbai. “Why are @ShreyasIyer15 #shivamdube not turning up for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy? Have they been asked to rest? @RaviShastriOfc,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Cricket Association hasn’t really taken this matter well to lyer and Dube’s absence from this important outing. There are possibilities that both the cricketers may end up in big trouble for their absence.

Though they made themselves unavailable for Mumbai from the next match onwards (against Karnataka at MCA’s BKC ground from January 3) due to India duties, the Mumbai Cricket Association selectors may be asked to not select them in future till they provide a valid explanation for their no-show.

“It’s an unfortunate episode for Mumbai cricket. They told us that they had been ‘advised rest’ by the BCCI. However, when we checked with the selectors, we were told that there was no such instruction sent out to them from the selectors, at least. So, who asked them to rest? The physio of the Indian or the trainer? Or did they choose to rest themselves and fired from the Board’s shoulder? This is something that no one in the MCA, including the selectors, has appreciated. This issue will surely be discussed in the next Apex Council meeting of the association. We may take some sort of action soon,” a top MCA official on the condition of anonymity told TOI.

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