"Will not be a straightforward call" - Former India keeper on Shreyas Iyer’s chances on being picked for Test series against West Indies

Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel opened up on Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer's inclusion in the Test squad for the upcoming West Indies series. The West Indies are set to tour India for a two-Test series in October this year.

Shreyas Iyer, who was left out of the recently concluded five-match away Test series in England, could be in contention to play against the West Indies. However, Parthiv Patel expressed that it may not be a straightforward call to include Shreyas.

He reckoned that there would be other players also in contention, such as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar. Rajat recently led the Central Zone to victory in the 2025 Duleep Trophy. He scored a hundred in the final and ended the tournament as the highest run-getter with 382 runs from five innings at an average of 76.40 with two hundreds and as many half-centuries.

"We say Shreyas Iyer is confirmed but there are other candidates as well like Rajat Patidar. He scored a century in the Duleep Trophy final and a half-century before that. He scored in the Ranji Trophy as well. He has even performed in the IPL and I am sure he will be a strong contender. When the discussion happens, there will surely be a debate and it will not be a straightforward call to include Shreyas Iyer in the team," Parthiv said on this YouTube channel. (2:20)

While Parthiv reckoned that Shreyas Iyer does have high chances of making it to the Test team for the West Indies series, it may not be certain to assume so just yet. There were talks of the PBKS captain featuring in the ongoing Asia Cup as well. However, he was omitted from the squad.

"The chances are high. There is no doubt that we may see Shreyas Iyer in that team. But the way our selection is happening at the moment, till you get confirmed news, it is difficult to say anything. It was even being told that he would be in the Asia Cup team, so these things can happen. But the chances of him playing the West Indies Test series seem high," he reflected. (9:56)

Shreyas last played a Test in 2024 against England at home. So far, he has been featured in 14 games, scoring 811 runs at an average of 36.86 with a hundred and five half-centuries.

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Parthiv Patel on the importance of India A and domestic tournaments

In the same conversation, Parthiv Patel also stressed the importance of India A tours and other domestic tournaments. He was a part of the Indian team that won the Test series against Australia Down Under in 2018. It was the first time that they won a series in the format on Australian soil.

He revealed how the likes of himself, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay, and Prithvi Shaw were sent to New Zealand before the Australia series.

"When we won the Test series in Australia in 2018, before that series, five of us who were Test specialists, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Prithvi Shaw, we had gone to New Zealand before to play two India A games and then went to Australia from there. So these games and A tournaments definitely help players. India A tours are foundations and it was a big step to have started these," he said. (11:32)

The former wicketkeeper did not get any opportunity to play a single Test in that series. However, the likes of Rahane and Pujara made vital contributions with the bat as they won the four-match series 2-1.