Indian cricket team batter Shreyas Iyer© AFP
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made a return to T20I cricket as the Indian cricket team squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan was announced but a clear omission was Shreyas Iyer. Iyer had a good run of form in the Cricket World Cup 2023 and even took part in the ODI and Test series against South Africa. As a result, his exclusion from the squad against Afghanistan came as a surprise for some fans as well as experts. According to a report on Anandabazar Patrika, the selectors were not happy with his style of batting in the recently concluded Test series. The report further claimed that Shreyas’ decision to take a holiday and not play Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai was not taken well by the team management.
Following his exclusion from the squad, Shreyas was added to the Mumbai squad and he is all set to take part in the Ranji Trophy match against Andhra to be played from January 12-15.
It can be a perfect opportunity for Shreyas to bounce back after struggling against South Africa and make a strong case for himself ahead of the five-match Test series against England starting January 25.
Iyer has replaced middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, who will join the India A team for the series against England A in Ahmedabad.
However, Mumbai will be without the services of all-rounder Shivam Dube who has been summoned to the national team for the upcoming three-match series starting against Afghanistan beginning on January 11.
India’s Squad for three T20Is against Afghanistan:Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar.
(With PTI inputs)
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