'Who will he replace?'
Shreyas Iyer faces an uphill battle to regain his spot in the Test team.
Omitted from the squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, Iyer's underwhelming performance in the Duleep Trophy (104 runs in 4 innings) has raised concerns about his form.
The emergence of young talents like Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, alongside the consistent presence of K L Rahul and Rishabh Pant, has intensified competition for middle-order batting positions.
A BCCI official highlighted this fierce competition, emphasising Iyer's lack of a clear replacement role in the current team.
'At the moment, there's no room for Shreyas to be in the Test team. Who will he replace?' the official asked, citing Iyer's shot selection worries during the Duleep Trophy.
'He was well set and then played a poor shot... When you are set on a flat deck, you need to capitalise on that opportunity,' the BCCI official told The Telegraph newspaper.
While the immediate Test future seems bleak, the BCCI suggests Iyer focus on domestic performances. He might be included in the Mumbai squad for the Irani Cup and potentially some of the Bangladesh T20Is. The Ranji Trophy also presents an opportunity to regain form.
'He needs to regain form,' another official remarked. 'Most likely he won't go to Australia for his problems against the short ball, but one can't just ignore his runs at home.'