MUMBAI: Troubled by back spasms, a recurring problem with him, India’s middle-order batsman
Shreyas Iyer
will not feature in Mumbai's
Ranji Trophy
quarter-final match against Baroda at the
Mumbai Cricket Association
's BKC ground from February 23.
In fact, TOI has learnt that Iyer was excluded from India squad for the remaining part of the
Test series
against
England
due on a “precautionary basis” due to a back niggle that he complained about.
Iyer made scores of 35, 13, 27 & 29 in the first two Tests against England at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. When the Mumbai selectors named the 16-man squad for the Ranji Trophy last eight match against Baroda on Tuesday, Iyer's name was missing from the list. He also had to miss Mumbai's last Ranji Trophy league match against Assam as his back was giving him trouble.
"He has told Mumbai's team management that he is unfit," said a source in the Mumbai Cricket Association. "He had told the Indian team management and the selectors that he got a back ache after batting for 30-40 minutes. He needs some to recover from it," a source in the
BCCI
told TOI.
Plagued by a back problem which forced him into a long layoff from the sport last year, Iyer underwent a back surgery and came back into the Indian team.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah had last week made it clear that India's centrally contracted players will have to mandatorily play red-ball cricket in domestic circuit. However, in case of Iyer, it is more about a niggle troubling the player than his will to not play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.
Side-strain keeps Shivam Dube out of last 8 tie
Meanwhile, as TOI has reported on Feb 20, India’s T20 all-rounder Shivam Dube, who has been in fine form this season, has been ruled out of Mumbai's last eight clash versus Baroda due to a “bilateral side strain injury,” and remains in doubt for the remaining Ranji Trophy season due to this injury.
Dube has been replaced in the Mumbai squad by talented all-rounder Musheer Khan, who did well for the India Under-19 team in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa recently, scoring 367 runs@ seven matches @60, with two back-to-back centuries and a fifty, besides taking seven [email protected].
Mumbai has made it to the Ranji Trophy knockouts after a gap of one season.
The Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Prasad Pawar (WK),Hardik Tamore (WK), Shardul Thakur, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Aditya Dhumal, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Awasthi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Roystan Dias.
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