After undergoing rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru, Shreyas Iyer is likely to walk back into the playing eleven for the second Test of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 starting February 17. Ahead of the second Test, head coach Rahul Dravid believes that Iyer is an obvious choice “if he is ready to take the load of a five-day Test match”.
“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,” Dravid told the reporters on February 15.
Iyer’s match fitness will be assessed by Dravid and team’s medical staff after the second and final training session on February 16.
“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.”
Iyer was replaced by Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order for Nagpur Test. Suryakumar failed to impress on his Test debut and registered a single-digit score. Ahead of the second Test, Dravid explained his approach when an injured player returns to the side.
“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."
Dravid revealed that he believes in this practice which has been followed of late.
"I can’t answer for everyone but that is certainly the outlook of team management," he added.
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Dravid lauded Iyer who has an average of 56.72 from seven Test caps including a century on debut.
"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.
The 50-year-old then explained that the same rule exists when a replacement player gets injured and returns to the side.
“The team understands it well that if someone is replacing someone injured and if the person comes back, he will probably be back (in playing XI). And it will be followed for him as well when he gets injured and he will get the same treatment as well.”
“On these tracks, counter-attacking is important,” he further added.
