NEW DELHI 18 June 2024 Punjab Khabarnama : Gautam Gambhir is expected to be appointed as India’s head coach and this could bring a fresh opportunity for IPL champion skipper Shreyas Iyer’s international career during the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in July-August.
Iyer, who successfully led the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL also has a chance for a comeback in the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe starting July 5.
However, the ODI series against Sri Lanka in July-August seems like a more realistic opportunity for him.
Gambhir and Iyer had a successful partnership during KKR’s victorious IPL campaign this year. The talented Mumbai right-hander, a prolific 50-over batter, may finally see his fortunes change after some challenging months.
Gambhir, currently the front-runner for the India coach position, was the mentor of the franchise.
Earlier, Iyer was dropped from BCCI’s central contracts, along with Ishan Kishan, due to his apparent reluctance to play in the Ranji Trophy. Nonetheless, Iyer has consistently stated that a recurring lower back issue kept him out, even though he did participate in the Ranji Trophy final, scoring around 90 runs.
Currently, many young players who performed well in the IPL are training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. They are preparing for the five T20Is against Zimbabwe, which will be announced next week.
“Shreyas is currently not at NCA. Here mostly those players are there, who have performed in the IPL and will be in contention for Zimbabwe selection.
“Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Mayank Yadav, Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal are all at the camp. Some will go to Zimbabwe T20Is,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“However, there is every possibility that Shreyas will travel for the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka. The last ODI that India played was in South Africa and he scored a half-century (52). He had 500 plus runs (530) in World Cup and averages just around 50. Can you drop him?” he added.
It is understood that senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, along with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, will now focus on ODIs and Tests for the remainder of the season. This includes nine WTC Tests between September 2024 to January 2025.
The schedule includes two home games each against Bangladesh and New Zealand, five away games against Australia, and the marquee ODI Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
There will be many new faces in the T20Is, including IPL stars. Players like Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed are expected to travel to Zimbabwe.
If Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav are not rested, they are likely to be named captain and vice-captain for the tour. Both have been playing constantly since the start of the IPL.
