Shreyas Iyer Feels ‘Stabbed in the Back’ After Test Snub, Says ‘Fine, I Won’t Utter a Word’: Kaif

You've got to feel for Shreyas Iyer. First, he was dropped from BCCI's central contracts for only playing a few domestic games. Then released from Kolkata Knight Riders, who he led to an IPL championship. And if that wasn't already enough, Iyer soon after found that out of the many retirements from the Indian team, none of them included him and he was missing from India's 18-member team that is to tour England for a five-Test match series.

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But if there is one thing Shreyas Iyer isn't about is giving up. And, grit, tenacity, and determination are precisely why he envisaged huge success. When the immense challenges of back injuries threatened to sidetrack his career, he used his grit and tenacity to battle back and take the east by storm with stellar performances in the domestic league. When KKR released Iyer for apparently “not coming to terms” with a contract amount on behalf of the winning captain, he was quickly swooped up by Punjab Kings for an exorbitant ₹26.75 crore; making him one of the most expensive player picks for a franchise in IPL auction history. What does he then do? He repays that insane contract of ₹26.75 to Punjab Kings, by taking them to playoff for the first time in a decade. That is the making of champions.

Mohammad Kaif, a former India batter and someone who has followed Shreyas Iyer closely for a long time, was part of the Delhi Capitals set-up when Shreyas became Delhi's captain in mid-season in 2018 taking over from Gautam Gambhir, took Delhi to the Qualifiers in 2019, and took DC to the IPL final in 2021. So Kaif was incredulous at Iyer's omission in India's Test squad, and called him a role model for the new generation of young cricketers.

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Mohammad Kaif calls out BCCI's decision

Kaif seemed taken back for the BCCI's treatment of Iyer, calling it hypocritical by describing Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, as saying "Shreyas has played well in domestic cricket but there is no place for him in the Test team at the moment" when asked about Iyer by the media. Angry, Kaif used the example of another player who has had a wonderful IPL but a First-Class average of 39.93 compared to Iyer's 48.57.

"Sai Sudharsan is a brilliant player, no doubt. But he was picked in the Test squad after a good IPL season (679 runs and counting). Iyer, meanwhile, has been doing well for so long. He scored some 550 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup and in the Champions Trophy as well. He is still doing a terrific job with the bat for Punjab Kings – 514 runs and counting. He is captaining too. So on one hand, you are considering white-ball criteria for one player and not for the other," added Kaif.

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