Hopefully Indian selectors will now stop overestimating Shreyas Iyer’s batting ability: Ian Chappell

Former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell did not mince his words in his evaluation of Indian batter Shreyas Iyer’s recent form and batting performances in recent times. Iyer was dropped from the squad for the remainder of the ongoing Test series against England. The third Test match between India and England is scheduled to start on 15 February in Rajkot. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced a 17-member squad for the remaining two Tests.

Iyer has not been able to score even a half century in his last 13 Test innings and this saw the selectors drop him for the remainder of the series. Chappell also spoke about the return of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja.

“India is a strong side and they also have a good leader in Rohit Sharma. They will be greatly strengthened by Ravindra Jadeja’s and KL Rahul’s recovery from injury, but that Virat Kohli will not return for the rest of the series is a blow. Hopefully, the selectors will now stop overestimating Shreyas Iyer’s batting ability and learn to value Kuldeep Yadav’s wicket-taking capability more,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

There were a lot of concerns over Iyer’s recent run of scores in Test cricket. Despite an impressive show at the ODI World Cup last year, Iyer struggled to find his rhythm in Test cricket. He was expected to take up the responsibility in the middle order in the absence of Kohli but he could only manage 104 runs across four innings in the first two Tests against England.

Meanwhile, Jadeja and Rahul have both been included in India’s Test squad but their availability will depend on fitness. Kohli will, however, not be in action due to personal reasons, as confirmed by the selectors.

The Indian players arrived in Rajkot on Monday, while the Ben Stokes-led team are expected to arrive later in the day from Abu Dhabi, where they spent the break after the second Test. The five-match Test series is currently level at 1-1 after the hosts bounced back resoundingly after their defeat in the opening Test in Hyderabad.