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The aggressive intent of Shreyas Iyer compared to Karun Nair’s calmer demeanour at the crease is the man reason behind the Punjab Kings captain not getting picked by the selectors for the England series, sources told CricBlogger.
The selectors had to decide between Nair and Iyer — because of of the former’s superlative domestic season in the Ranji Trophy. Nair was finally picked as he found favour the selectors.
However, BCCI sources suggested that if Iyer continues to perform as he is doing now, he will be the obvious choice if Nair doesn’t perform in England. “Shreyas’ recent form in ODIs and IPL also makes him a candidate for the red ball team,” a board official said while adding the reason behind Iyer not figuring in the India-A team right away.
Sources also said that Sai Sudharsan was picked by the selectors for his consistent show for Tamil Nadu and not for his IPL form. For the selectors, IPL is certainty a platform to see how the players are shaping up for the big series — but batting on seaming tracks in Test matches outside India is a much tougher deal rather than striking the ball at will on flat decks in IPL.
Going by the same logic even Rishabh Pant’s poor IPL form didn’t affect his position in the Test team as vice-captain. Even former skipper Rohit Sharma couldn’t find a place in Test team because of his poor Test form rather than his white ball form. Some of the board members had suggested that Rohit can demand a Test team slot because of his exploits with the white ball.
“The selectors made it clear a player’s white ball form can’t be a criteria for red ball team selection. This probably is for the first time that the selectors are deciding their teams in three formats based on the performance of a particular format,” the source added.
