India’s out-of-favour middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer ended the century drought in red-ball cricket on October 19. The Mumbai batter on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash against Maharashtra at Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC, Mumbai, reached his century from 131 deliveries.
On the other end, Suryakumar Yadav celebrated his century. He told him to raise his bat and celebrate as Mumbai players lauded him from the dressing room.
Iyer’s previous century in first-class cricket came 23 matches and 38 innings earlier. In the last five matches, he had three ducks and three half-centuries but could not get to a big score. In their Ranji Trophy 2024-25 opener, he registered scores of 0 and 30 as Mumbai lost to Baroda after a long gap of 26 years.
In the Irani Cup, he scored a half-century. In Duleep Trophy, he captained India D and got out for ducks in first innings of two of three games. His two fifties in Duleep Trophy came in the second innings.
Teenager Mhatre’s big hundred
Earlier, 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre scored a century. The opener scored 176 runs from 232 balls including 22 fours and four sixes. Mhatre shared a 200-run partnership for the fourth-wicket with Iyer. While Iyer got to his century, Suryakumar fell for a single-digit score to Hitesh Walunj, just overs before the new ball was due.
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On Day 1, Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and opted to bat first. Maharashtra suffered a batting collapse and lost half the side for just 41 runs. Azim Kazi and wicketkeeper-batter Nikhil Naik's cameos helped Maharashtra post 126 on the board before they got bowled out.
Iyer out of favour with selectors
The 29-year-old played his last Test earlier this year against England. He got starts but could not convert them into big scores. An injury led to him missing the rest of the series against England. In his absence, Sarfaraz Khan has turned out to be a more consistent candidate for the role. So far, Iyer has scored 811 runs from 14 Tests at an average of 36.86 including one century and five fifties.
