India cricketers Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav have returned with low scores in the ongoing Buchi Babu Invitational tournament. They are playing for Mumbai Cricket Association against Tamil Nadu Cricket Association XI in the second round of matches at Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science Cricket Ground.
Iyer and Surya are among a handful of high-profile players featuring in the tournament. Interestingly, both the players need a solid score before the squad announcement for India's two-match Test series against Bangladesh that starts on September 19. Iyer was dropped from the team during the home series against England earlier this year while Surya has featured only in one Test in his career, in 2022, and is eager to play for India in the longest format.
Shreyas Iyer batted at number three but was sent back by left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore for just two runs. Suryakumar Yadav fared a little better than Iyer but could muster only 30 runs off 38 deliveries with three fours and one six before Ajith Ram S dismissed him. Interestingly, captain Sarfaraz Khan didn't come out to bat even after the team lost seven wickets. Before the start of the match, Surya had expressed his wish to return to India's Test team having only played a solitary game in the format so far.
"There are a lot of people who have worked really hard to earn their place and even I want to earn that spot again. I made my debut for India in Tests. After that, I got injured as well. There were a lot of people who got an opportunity and have done well too. They deserve that opportunity right now," Surya had said.
As far as the match is concerned, TNCA XI posted 379 runs after opting to bat. Four of their batters - Pradosh Ranjan Paul (65), Indrajith B (61), Boopathi Vaishna Kumar (82) and Ajith Ram (53) - scored half-centuries while other batters chipped with decent scores as well. Himanshu Singh of Mumbai picked up a five-wicket haul conceding 81 runs in 27 overs.
Mumbai have crumbled losing seven wickets in response with not many runs on the board. With Sarfaraz Khan not batting and the Iyer-Surya duo failing, Mumbai are in serious trouble and it remains to be seen if they can reduce the deficit in the first innings.
