Shreyas Iyer could make his international debut on November 1
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India have drafted Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer and Hyderabad seamer Mohammed Siraj into their squad for the Twenty20 series against New Zealand.
Neither Iyer nor Siraj have played international cricket, but the duo did feature in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
Iyer represented the Delhi Daredevils and scored 338 runs in 12 matches at an average of 33.80.
As for Siraj, he played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and took 10 wickets in six games at an average of 21.20.
Iyer has also put up consistent performances over the last few months for India A, while Siraj was the third-highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 41 wickets.
“Shreyas Iyer has been prolific in all forms of the game, be it day’s format, be it one-day or T20 or IPL, you name anything he has been performing,” MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of selectors, was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “We will sit with this policy that if we pick a player, we will give him an extended rope, and we will continue with him and nurture him and see that he goes on to become successful. So is [the case] with Siraj. He is doing well, he has been duly recognised and rewarded as well.”
Meanwhile, veteran left-arm pace bowler Ashish Nehra has only been picked for the first Twenty20 International in Delhi as he will retire from all forms of cricket after that match.
However, while Nehra is eager to end his international career in front of his home crowd, Prasad admitted that it is up to the team management to decide whether to include him in the playing XI.
“We can’t say that [if he will surely play in the Delhi T20I],” Prasad added. “Whether he is going to play or not, it is clearly the team management and the selector on call, whoever it is. The think tank involved will be taking a call. There is no assurance from our side that he’s going to play or not. It will be decided on that particular day.
“We have clearly communicated to the player, i.e Ashish Nehra and to the team management that we are only looking at him till the New Zealand series. If you have seen the pattern with which we have selected the India A players, the same bowlers we have been continuing with for the last one and a half years on all A trips, that means they are very much in line.
“They have really done well in South Africa, also at home against New Zealand. This message has been clearly communicated and we are very happy that the player also needs to take it in the right spirit that the new generation is coming up. Instead of waiting till the end of the New Zealand series, he felt that Delhi game itself he’ll quit.”
The three-match Twenty20 series will get underway on November 1 in Delhi.
India’s T20 Squad: Virat Kohli (c) Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra (1st T20I), Mohammad Siraj