India head coach Rahul Dravid shed light on Shreyas Iyer's place in the playing XI of the upcoming second Test against Australia. the men in blue will face the Kangaroos in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match in Delhi on February 17.
Shreyas Iyer has completed his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy and will soon join the Test squad. The middle-order batter who had sustained a back injury has been cleared by the BCCI medical team to join the men in blue. However, his place in the line-up is yet to be confirmed. Dravid spoke about Iyer's chances of playing the second Test.
“It is always good to have somebody back from injury. We never like to lose people to injuries and it is never nice for a team, nice for that individual and glad that he (Iyer) is fit. We will take a call after a couple of training sessions.”
“Today, he has done some training. We will again assess it tomorrow as well when he comes in for a light hit and see how he feels," the head coach said.
"But certainly, if he is ready to take the load of a five-day Test match, then without doubt, with his performances in the past, he will walk straight into the side.”
However, Dravid has no hesitation in stating that a replacement player, even if he scores a hundred or takes five wickets, will have to sit out once the first choice player is back from injury.
“Yeah, without being written in stone or written in rule, certainly, we value contributions of people who have been there and missed out due to injury. They really deserve the right to come back irrespective of what has happened in the time they have been injured."
He then explained why he feels that Iyer is deserving.
"Shreyas has played well but what has stood out is his temperament, in quite a few pressure situations since he has been around. Right through his debut game in Kanpur and in last year and half, every time, he has been in tough situations, he, Rishabh and Jadeja are the ones who have been bailing us out and playing those critical knocks.
"In Bangladesh, we were under pressure and he bailed us out with Ashwin and that’s a good sign. Along with his skill of playing spin really well, he has spent a lot of time in domestic cricket before getting in, obviously he understands how to get runs.
"But at this level what also counts is your ability to deal with pressure situations, that temperament and ability to find solutions when you are under pressure. From little small sample size we have, he has been very very good at that. He has been one of the better players and he deserves it,” Dravid added.
Shreyas Iyer's injury:
The 28-year-old had played the two-match Test series in Bangladesh in December last year. However, he was ruled out of the ODI series against New Zealand after suffering from swelling in the lower back. He further missed the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played at Nagpur as he had not fully completed his rehabilitation.
India vs Australia Test Series:
India thrashed Australia in the first match of the four-match Test series by an innings and 132 runs. With the victory, they have taken a 1-0 lead. India and Australia will face each other again in the upcoming Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, beginning from February 17.
