Shreyas Iyer sends ‘Test comeback’ message to BCCI with Ranji Trophy century

It’s been a topsy-turvy year for Shreyas Iyer. At the start of the year, he was dropped from the Indian Test squad midway through the England home series.

Later when he skipped a Ranji Trophy, reportedly due to a back injury, he lost his BCCI central contract. He later returned to the domestic side to help Mumbai win the Ranji Trophy and led Kolkata Knight Riders to their first IPL win in 12 years.

He did earn a place in India’s ODI tour of Sri Lanka earlier this summer, but failed to make a significant impact. Iyer’s aim, however, remained focused on a Test return, but the star batter required patience amid his prolonged battle with back injury issues.

Aiming for a place in the two home series India had in their schedule – against Bangladesh in September and New Zealand in October, Iyer participated in the pre-season Buchi Babu tournament, before earning a call-up for the Duleep Trophy, but barring two half-century scores, which also came in the Irani Cup earlier this month, he had nothing to show.

However, on Saturday, Iyer shut his critics with a knock of 142 off 190 for Mumbai against Maharashtra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. It was his first first-class ton in three years, having last reached the triple-figure mark against New Zealand in Kanpur on his Test debut.

Following the ton, which he labelled as “special”, he sent a message to the BCCI selectors, saying that he is “absolutely keen for a comeback” and that his back is 100 per cent fine.

“Coming back after a very long time, obviously I was feeling a bit down with my injuries, but now getting a century after a very long time, it’s a great feeling,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Iyer. “I am absolutely keen for a [Test] comeback but yeah, as we say, control the controllables and my job is to keep performing and keep participating as much as possible and also see with that my body is in best shape. So I’ll take the best decision possible according to that.”

Iyer shuts inaccurate injury perception

Earlier this year during IPL 2024, Iyer revealed that after the 2023 ODI World Cup, he had raised concerns over his back injury while playing the longer format, but “no one was agreeing to it”.

When asked if the revelation and struggle with fitness did create a wrong notion about Iyer, he said: “See, I had addressed my feeling during the longer format and things didn’t go my way. But I’ve also addressed it in the previous interviews I’ve given and I’m in a good space right now. I’m doing what I’m meant to do, that is training and playing matches consistently and I feel that all the matches I’ve played right now in the past have helped me gain that fitness level as well, along with my training.”

“The body has taken a lot of load at the same time. So we have to manage here and there and see to it that I strategise in terms of how I play. Now I have to be smart in terms of what decisions I take, I need to see to it that my body is in the best shape possible. As I mentioned previously as well, I have to decide according to that, no matter whatever people think outside. I have to listen to my body because I know the amount of threshold carried over the last few years and based on that, I’ll be taking the right decision, and I hope that my team will also back [that],” Iyer, who has now played six straight first-class matches over the last six weeks, added.