Shreyas Iyer's announcement of unavailability owing to red-ball cricket has ignited a heated controversy within Indian cricket circles. The middle-order batter was captaining India A in the ongoing series against Australia A when he withdrew from the Lucknow-based second unofficial Test and stepped down from his leadership immediately, even before the toss.

Back Issues Force a Difficult Call

At the age of 30, Iyer cited recurring back issues for his withdrawal, insisting that the four-day format had recently become difficult to cope with. His withdrawal comes at a time when he was eyeing a Test return after last playing in February 2024. Considerably low scores of eight runs in his only outing against Australia A served to fuel skepticism regarding his readiness for and form in the long format.

Test Return Dreams Put on Hold

This more or less rules him out for India's home series against the West Indies in October with increased prospects for Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, and Nitish Kumar Reddy to fit into the middle-order slot.

White-Ball Cricket Remains Iyer’s Stronghold

Even as Iyer recedes from red-ball glamour, he occupies a fuller space in the white-ball sphere. His ability to shift gears gives him that special trait suited for such formats, far superior than, if even compared, he continues to loom around for a center of attention for the major tournaments amongst the selectors.

The debate is back in the public domain among the workload management discussions, with lots positing Iyer deliberately choosing to prolong his career in the shorter formats rather than batter through the grind of Test cricket.