Shreyas Iyer. File.  Photo: Periasamy M/ The Hindu.
| Photo Credit: Periasamy M

Shreyas Iyer’s shot at redeeming himself in red-ball cricket will begin on Thursday (September 5, 2024) when he leads Team-D against Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Team-C in the first round of the Duleep Trophy at the Rural Trust Development Stadium in Anantapur.

The 29-year-old, who last played a Test for India in February, was omitted from the BCCI central contract list for not representing Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal last season.

Ishan Kishan was supposed to accompany Shreyas in the journey, but an injury suffered during the Buchi Babu invitational tournament has reportedly ruled him out. Suryakumar Yadav’s hand injury, also suffered during the the same tournament, meant Team-C was also not spared.

In Suryakumar’s absence, Ruturaj would need all the help he can get from the Tamil Nadu duo of B. Indrajith and Sai Sudharsan, with the latter heading in on the back of a County Championship hundred.

Rajat Patidar’s unconvincing maiden international assignment against England, where he scored just 63 runs in six innings, exposed his discomfort against the tweakers. This could make Axar Patel an effective option against the Madhya Pradesh batter.

Axar’s all-round abilities will also go a long way in reinforcing Team-D’s batting too, which appears to run thin in Ishan’s absence. Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dubey, and Atharva Taide are likely to form the top order, with Shreyas and one of K.S. Bharat or Ricky Bhui anchoring the middle order.

In the 16 First Class games played at the venue, pacers have accounted for 361 batters. Spinners, on the other hand, have just 112 wickets. If the pitch plays the same, in Arshdeep Singh, Tushar Deshpande, and Harshit Rana, Team-D has a pace trio that can extract the most out of it.

Team-C’s pace battery is of a different mould. Between them, Gaurav Yadav and Sandeep Warrier have 112 First Class games. Vyshak Vijayakumar, who has played 20 FC matches, is the likeliest third-seam option.

The squads:

Team-C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Capt.), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, B. Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep Warrier.

Team-D: Shreyas lyer (Capt.), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar.