When the BCCI announced India’s squad for the remaining three Tests of the five-match series against England on Saturday (February 10), there was a notable omission in it.

Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer’s name didn’t feature in the 17-member squad. While the board didn’t offer any clarification regarding his non-selection, multiple reports claimed that Iyer was dropped from the side due to his poor form with the bat.

The right-hander registered scores of 35, 13, 27 and 29 in the first two Tests against England in Hyderabad and Vizag. Before the England series, he featured in two Tests during the tour of South Africa, where he returned with knocks of 31, 6, 0 and 4*.

Reacting to his omission, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra said that Shreyas Iyer looked ugly while batting which was not the case with Shubman Gill, who also failed in the first three innings of the series but bounced back with a century in the second innings of Vizag Test.

“Reports say that he was available for selection because there are three matches. So even if he wasn’t available for one match, he could have been available for the remaining two matches. So he was available for selection,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“However, the selectors said that they weren’t going to pick him. Shubman Gill was also in the same boat but he never looked ugly. People said that about Shreyas in the Vizag Test match and what they said wasn’t wrong,” he added.

Iyer often draws flak for his struggles against the short deliveries, and Chopra pointed out that the middle-order batter looked unsettled in the second Test as well.

“In the Vizag match, he was backing away while playing every short ball. It just does not look nice. If you start playing like that, a question comes for sure why he is playing like that because that just did not look right,” he remarked.

One of the key members of India’s ODI squad, Shreyas Iyer’s Test form has become a big concern for the Indian team.

Aakash Chopra said that the Mumbaikar will have to address the issues he is facing to excel in Test cricket.

“Shreyas Iyer had a very good World Cup. I feel his white-ball cricket is going to remain good. The way he bats, he will continue playing very well, but this problem is going to repeatedly come in Test cricket till he addresses it completely,” he concluded.