Mumbai: Mumbai's prolific batter Shreyas Iyer has not taken the field for the second consecutive day during the Ranji Trophy Final between 41-time champions Mumbai and Vidarbha at Wankhede Stadium here.
"Shreyas (Iyer) has not taken the field on the fifth day also. Amol Bhatgal is the substitute in place of Shreyas," a Senior Mumbai Cricket Association official told ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity. "Shreyas Iyer is injured and the same back issue has surfaced," another reliable MCA source said.
Iyer picked up form at the very right time and showcased his prowess with bat, scoring 95 off just 111 balls including 10 fours and three sixes for Mumbai in their second innings on the third day. He forged the crucial partnership with U-19 ODI World Cup star Musheer Khan, who scored a century for the domestic giants, which helped set a record chase of 538 against Vidarbha. But, when Mumbai came out to take the field, he didn't appear on the ground Wednesday due to back pain and hasn't been seen on the field since the start of the play on Thursday morning.
The 29-year-old had made himself unavailable for Mumbai's Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda, citing the same reason to the Mumbai Cricket Association. But, on the very next day, the head of sports sciences and medicine at the National Cricket Academy(NCA), Nitin Patel, informed the BCCI selectors that Shreyas Iyer was fit and no fresh injuries were incurred by him recently. Later, he featured in the Mumbai's squad for Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu which the hosts won quite comprehensively by an innings and 70 runs.
BCCI then dropped the right-hand batter from the latest central contracts for the 2023-24 season and clearly mentioned in their official release that Iyer was not considered for the annual contracts.
When the contract period started, Iyer had participated in four Tests, 12 ODIs and two T20Is. The two of those Tests came when India toured the Rainbow Nation while the other two came in the ongoing series against England. However, he failed to make an impact with the bat and struggled for runs, scoring a mere 145 runs in four matches at an average of just 20.71 with a highest score of 35. He then complained about the back spasm and didn't take part in the remainder of the series.
Coming to the Ranji Trophy summit clash, Mumbai are likely to win this tightly fought encounter, having set Vidarbha a massive target and then reduced them to 333 for 5 with at least two sessions remaining in the match.
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