IND vs PAK: Shreyas Iyer Will Not Travel To Australia, To Take Part In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - Report

Shreyas Iyer, India’s star middle-order batsman, was chosen as one of four reserves for the 2018 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia and was scheduled to go there following the end of the ODI series against South Africa.

However, in an unexpected development on Wednesday, it was discovered that the right-handed batter has been requested to return to India and play for his native team, Mumbai, in the present Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 event.

The 27-year-old right-handed batter was on fire in the three-match One-Day International series against South Africa, finishing as the leading run-scorer.

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Shreyas Iyer To Represent Mumbai In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Iyer, who was also named a reserve in last year’s T20 World Cup, was supposed to travel to Australia with the other reserves – Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar, and Ravi Bishnoi – but it has now been reported that both Iyer and Bishnoi have been asked to stay back and play in the domestic T20 tournament and will be called up if any player gets injured.

Deepak has already been ruled out of the competition, and Shami flew to Brisbane on Wednesday, according to an update on his Instagram account. In addition to Shami, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj also travelled to Australia.

“Shreyas has been told that Deepak Hooda is fit, so he would only be called if any specialist batter gets injured. He has been asked to play Mushtaq Ali trophy and remain ready,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI.

At the start of the year, Iyer was in contention for a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad, but with the rise of Suryakumar Yadav to another level and Hooda’s all-round performance for both India and his IPL side, Lucknow Super Giants, Iyer fell down the pecking order and was only considered for the reserves.

He’s been hitting well of late, scoring 50, 113 not out, and 28 not out in his previous three innings. Iyer will now fly to Rajkot and prepare to play in Mumbai. He has a good record with the domestic giants, having scored 802 runs in 37 innings. Iyer has a 34.47 average and a strike rate of 137.53.