Consistency has helped Shreyas Iyer raise the bar, and now more is expected from the stylish right-handed batter.
It’s not just about white-ball cricket, where he has been central to Team India’s recent success in ODIs and Punjab Kings’ impressive run so far in IPL 2025, in the red-ball format, too, Shreyas has looked sharper.
His Ranji Trophy numbers in the 2024-25 season prove that.
But will that go on to earn him a place in the India squad for the upcoming five-Test series against England? That’s still a tough question to answer.
With a stance more side-on, a high back-lift and opening up of the hip have helped Shreyas to pick up the short-pitched ball early and score off it. These adjustments were also instrumental in his back-to-back Ranji centuries (142 and 233) against Maharashtra and Odisha, respectively.
Of course, Maharashtra and Odisha don’t fall among the strongest teams on the Indian domestic cricket, but are still quite capable of upstaging any of the heavyweights on their day. Besides, they were big hundreds from Shreyas, reflecting his dominance over the opponents’ bowlers.
Also, working alongside Ricky Ponting in Punjab Kings has given Shreyas the scope of learning a thing or two from the Aussie great to further improve his technique.
Yet, the selectors are “still not convinced” about his ability to replicate his limited-overs success in the longest format. In the English conditions which aid swing and movement, tackling the short-pitched stuff requires different skills than what is needed on the Indian pitches.
“To be honest, nobody is perfect against the short ball. Besides, Shreyas’ average against the short ball earlier used to be 12, and now it’s 40,” Shreyas’ long-time coach Pravin Amre had said earlier.
But according to an insider in the BCCI, “If India were to play a home series, Shreyas’s chances of selection would have been fine. But on an overseas tour, against the quicks, his chances don’t really look great.”
“See, the general feeling is that he still needs to work a little bit on his red-ball game. Yes, he has been doing a brilliant job in limited overs, adapting excellently to situations. But Test cricket is a different ballgame.
“The short-ball aside, there will be a lot more swing and movement in England, which makes it imperative to leave the ball as well. Leaving the ball is very important when it comes to batting in England.
“As far as Shreyas is concerned, he’s a naturally aggressive player and looks to score runs quickly. So, curbing his instincts may not be that easy, and that’s one aspect which could go against him before the squad gets finalised,” another Board official told The Telegraph on Thursday.
Having said that, head coach Gautam Gambhir’s role as the selection committee gets down to finalise the squad for the England Tests will again be a key one. Given Gambhir’s current position in Indian cricket, it will be difficult for the Ajit Agarkar-led panel to ignore if he expresses his support for Shreyas’s inclusion in the Test squad.
Gambhir and Shreyas are known to share a good rapport, and the understanding between the two was primary to the Kolkata Knight Riders’ third IPL crown last year. Shreyas was the Knight Riders’ captain then.
“Shreyas is mature now as an individual and has also worked out his game quite a bit. Now, when it comes to his selection for the England Tests, it will be a judgment call,” feels former India opener WV Raman.
“Because the team management and the selectors will perhaps go for somebody they think is more suited technically for red-ball cricket… Especially, in English conditions.
“I’m not suggesting that Shreyas is not suited… Just that the team management will go for somebody they think can handle those conditions,” Raman explained.