3 reasons why India dropping Shreyas Iyer for last 3 Tests vs England is the wrong move

It came as a shock to everyone when Shreyas Iyer was left out of the remaining games of the ongoing Test series between India and England.

Iyer failed to register a significant contribution in the first two Tests of the series; scoring made 35 and 13 in Hyderabad and 27 and 29 in Visakhapatnam. Not only in these two Tests, but Iyer did have a rough patch in the last year or so, with him scoring only 187 runs at a sorry average of 17 in 2023 with the bat in tests.

Shreyas Iyer doesn't have numbers to justify his further selection, but here are some of the reasons why his exclusion is not the right move from the team management.

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#3 Shreyas Iyer was slowly getting into the groove

If we look at his stay at the crease in this series, then apart from his usual struggle against pace, Shreyas Iyer looked confident against spin, which wasn't the case in 2023.

Iyer averaged 14.00 against spinners in 2023, which has increased to 30.65 this year. All four dismissals in this series came when he tried to take on the spinners to unsettle their lengths.

Moreover, the right-hander got starts in all four innings, which indicates that he is slowly getting his mojo back.

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#2 Making things easier for England

With Iyer's omission, it seems like Indian management has thrown their weight behind Rajat Patidar for the middle-order role, which he rightly deserves.

The ploy might work, but in a series where English spinners are dominating the hosts (they have picked up 35 wickets at an economy of 3.55 compared to India's 24 wickets at an economy of 4.30), giving a one-Test-old batter such a defining role in the middle of a series is something that doesn't ring bells.

Considered one of India's best batters against spin, Shreyas Iyer would have been a better bet.

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#1 Indian middle-order batting woes

After Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, it's not been smooth sailing for India in the middle order with it going through a transition.

Indian middle-order batters have averaged 31.05 since 2022 and are the fourth worst among the top 10 Test-playing nations.

During this time, Shreyas Iyer has been proven to be one of the best batters for the side, with a batting average of 42.40, just behind Rishabh Pant (53.00) and Ravindra Jadeja (43.92).

This also includes 2023, a year where Iyer struggled hugely, averaging only 14.00, which exemplifies how vital he has been for this side in the middle order in this transition phase.

Also, since there's uncertainty over Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul's availability in the series, Iyer's absence opens up a huge hole in the Indian batting line-up, especially against spin.