'It saddens me to see him... your concentration isn't in the game': Former Pakistan cricketer doesn't believe Shreyas Iyer has 'hunger' for Test cricket

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali reserved harsh criticism for India D captain Shreyas Iyer who had yet another disappointing outing in the Duleep Trophy 2024. In the second round of the Duleep Trophy, he departed for a seven-ball duck. The senior Indian batter who was recently dropped from the Test squad for the Bangladesh series lost his wicket to India A’s left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed. 
 

Basit is disappointed by Iyer's approach to red-ball cricket. He felt that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain should have made use of the opportunity and scored a hundred in absence of out-of-favour batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.
 

“As a cricketer, it saddens me to see him. If you are getting out in front, your concentration isn't in the game. And especially the red-ball game. He has scored two centuries in the World Cup, he's an IPL-winning captain, he should've scored 100-200 runs here. Iyer is so lucky that Rahane and Pujara aren't playing in Duleep Trophy,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.
 

“Iyer doesn't have the hunger for red-ball cricket anymore. He's only hungry for boundaries. You should prioritise it. If he's thinking he is similar to Virat Kohli after hitting two centuries in World Cup, no, it doesn't happen that way. I'm sorry to Indians who like him, but if I was India's selector, Iyer wouldn't have been in the Duleep Trophy at all. He's not respecting the game," he added.

 

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Iyer’s numbers in previous game

The 29-year-old Mumbai batter registered scores of 9 and 54 in the previous game against India C in a losing cause. After contributing to the collapse in the first innings, he scored 54 runs from just 44 balls in the second.

 

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Iyer needs big runs to reclaim middle-order spot

Earlier, he marked his return to red-ball cricket in Buchi Babu tournament. He registered scores of 2 and 22 for Mumbai against TNCA XI.
 

With Rishabh Pant coming back in the squad, Iyer lost his place in the squad. Apart from KL Rahul, young Sarfaraz Khan is the contender of the middle-order spot. Also, Devdutt Padikkal who did not make it into the squad scored a half-century on his Test debut against England earlier this year. 
 

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