Ahead of the first T20I match against Afghanistan to be played at Mohali on 11th January 2024, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid rubbishes the report of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan not being included in the squad for the series against Afghanistan.
Ishan Kishan withdrew from the Test series against South Africa due to mental fatigue. Indian coach Rahul Dravid said that Kishan made himself unavailable for the series discarding the reports of being dropped from the T20I series against Afghanistan due to disciplinary reasons.
“No, absolutely not (disciplinary issue). Ishan Kishan was not available for selection. Ishan requested a break, which we agreed in South Africa. We supported it. He has not yet made himself available. I don’t think he has made himself available as yet. When he is available, he will play domestic cricket and make himself available for selection.”
Shreyas Iyer to miss the T20I series against Afghanistan
Shreyas Iyer was appointed as the vice-captain for the last two T20I matches against Australia played at Raipur and then Bengaluru. He scored well complied half-century in the first ODI match against South Africa and did not feature in the remaining two matches due to preparation for the test series. Iyer was not included in the squad for the T20I series against South Africa where the series was equal at 1-1.
“Certainly, in Shreyas Iyer’s case, there is no disciplinary reason for his non-inclusion. It’s just that he missed out. There were a lot of batters in the team”, Dravid said. “Shreyas missed out, he didn’t play the T20Is in South Africa if you noticed. There are a lot of batters and it’s not easy to fit everyone. So, there are no disciplinary reasons at all. At least I didn’t discuss such things with the selectors.”
Shreyas Iyer will play the Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai ahead of the Test series against England to be played from 25th January. Iyer had a disappointing outing in 4 innings he played with the score of 31 in the first innings of the first Test match at Centurion. He was dismissed without opening his account in the 1st innings of 2nd test match at Cape Town. Iyer hit the winning runs for India winning the match by 7 wickets.
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