Mumbai's premier batsman Iyer in the reckoning for a World Cup berth after tremendous performances in Mushtaq Ali T20 and Indian Premier League
Delhi Capitals's skipper Shreyas Iyer in full flow at the Kotla. Pic/AFP
Indian captain Virat Kohli and the national selectors have many a time stressed that performances in the Indian Premier League would not be a criteria for World Cup selection, but Shreyas Iyer could be an exception as the MSK Prasad-led selection committee meets tomorrow for their most important selection. Like in the 2015 edition, the Indians selectors, it is learnt, may pick a 16-member team for the World Cup instead of restricting the squad to 15.
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Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni was the additional member of the Indian team during the 2015 World Cup, which was jointly-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The BCCI had incurred a cost of R2.4 crore on the additional team member. Sources have indicated that Iyer is very much in the reckoning for a berth in the World Cup team. The Mumbai batsman's selection could raise some eyebrows as he played his last ODI way back in February 2018 against South Africa in Centurion. He did not get to bat in that match, but in his first two matches of the series, Iyer scored 18 and 30 respectively at No. 5.
In his ODI debut series against Sri Lanka in 2017, he had scores of 9, 88 and 65. In that series, Iyer batted at No. 3 after Kohli was rested. The current Delhi Capitals skipper was never considered again. However, his impressive performances in the IPL, [221 runs in seven matches] could have forced the selectors to relook at options available at their disposal.
Iyer's ability to play his natural game in difficult situations during the IPL has been impressive. It is not just Iyer's IPL form that is being considered. He had a tremendous outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, scoring 487 runs in 10 innings for Mumbai to emerge the second highest run-getter of the tournament. The Indian team look pretty much settled apart from a couple of vacancies. The No. 4 slot is still unsettled despite the Indian think-tank trying as many as 11 players since the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Also Read: Delhi Capital's Shreyas Iyer, Kagiso Rabada hand RCB their sixth loss
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