SHABBY treatment for Shreyas Iyer is now well-known

Shreyas Iyer dropped a bombshell for sure when he said on Thursday his place in the Playing 11 for the first ODI was confirmed only after he got to know from skipper Rohit Sharma the previous night about Virat Kohli being injured. That Shreyas was frank in saying he was not in the first 11, despite being an established No.4 batter. leads to a lot of intrigue. After his fiery half ton in the first ODI against England, there are a few red faces. One hopes Shreyas not being considered as a first choice does not have to do with purported differences between him and coach Gautam Gambhir.

Just to rewind, when the IPL final was won by Kolkata Knight Riders in the summer of 2024, a lot of credit went to mentor Gautam Gambhir. It was, as if, Gambhir had done everything and Shreyas the skipper had not chipped in. What followed on social media was a bit weird, wherein Shreyas felt he was not given due credit. Perhaps, the best example of proving himself was exemplified when he underwent the hard grind in domestic cricket for Mumbai and succeeded this season. The willingness to get back to all formats of first-class cricket defines Shreyas as an eager beaver. At the same time, when Shreyas decided he did not want to be retained by KKR before the auction, he had ruffled a few feathers.

Sure enough, Shreyas had done his own calculations where he would stand at the IPL auction in December. He had no qualms about taking a risk and was picked up by Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crores. To borrow a phrase often repeated, this was like the franchise breaking the bank. Recently, Ricky Ponting, who will be shaping the future of the new Punjab side he has taken over said Shreyas being picked was always on the cards at a massive price. Just after the Champions Trophy, Shreyas will be slipping into Punjab Kings as a captain who can change the fortunes in IPL 2025.

What is strange is how Shreyas commands such a massive price in the IPL, which is the T20 format but does not get into the Indian side for the T20 format. Agreed, there are many youngsters waiting in the wings to embrace the slam-bang stuff., but surely, for the ODIs, Shreyas still is important. Somewhere there is a disconnect as to why he is not first choice. When so many changes are being made and freshers are getting breaks, does it not make sense for an established player like Shreyas to walk into the ODI side? There is some intrigue, which has been mentioned vastly in social media as well.

To be sure, Shreyas is not really bothered about what all is going on. Cricket is his bread and butter. He said in a recent interview he comes from a middle-class family in Mumbai and is more concerned about making a living. It means, even when he was stripped of his BCCI central contract a while ago, he did not let it affect him. Like another veteran pro from Mumbai, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas has accepted it that he is not a favourite with the selectors. How and why nobody knows, since transparency in the BCCI is opaque.

Where does Shreyas go from here? Is he a certainty for the remaining two ODIs at home and an obvious choice for the Champions Trophy, fans will get to know soon. At the same time, Shreyas should not be ‘in and out’ just because out of form batters have to be fitted into the Playing 11. It is nice to know stats speak highly of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. But for how long will they keep getting chances is the big question. Even the BCCI is worried, rather frustrated, how the former and present captains are turning out to be liabilities. With Shubman Gill embracing vice captaincy as well, these are interesting times in the ODIs. As for Shreyas, how shabbily he has been treated is now a well-known story.