Star middle--order batter Shreyas Iyer will be joining the India squad ahead of the second Test against Australia in Delhi after recovering from back injury, the BCCI said in a statement. The second Test starts from Friday and India are leading 1-0 in the four-match series. "India batter Shreyas Iyer has successfully completed his rehab at the National Cricket Academy following his back injury and has been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team. Shreyas will join the squad in New Delhi ahead of the second Test of the Mastercard Australia tour of India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy," the BCCI said in a statement.
Iyer hasn't played any competitive cricket for a month now and it remains to be seen if he is directly thrown into a Test match where he might have to field for 90 overs, crouch and stand close-in and then bat for long hours.
Meanwhile, Australian men's cricket team on Tuesday, arrived in Delhi for the second Test of the four-match Test series against India in Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Delhi is hosting its first Test since December 2017. India will look forward to their World Test Championship Final qualification chances while Australia looking to register a series win in the subcontinent.
Merely two sessions of play were needed to achieve a result on the third day of the first Test as India took a 1-0 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur. After stretching their lead to over 200 runs, India bowled out Australia for 91 in about a session to win the Test by an innings and 132 runs. Ravindra Jadeja was declared the Player of the Match for bowling figures of 7-81 and 70 runs with the willow.
The win shortens the gap between the two sides in the World Test Championship Standings with India's point percentage rising to 61.67% while Australia's dropped to 70.83%.
Australia currently lead the ICC World Test Championship standings and need to avoid a 4-0 whitewash to India to ensure they reach June's final at The Oval.
India's squad for second Test: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav
With PTI and ANI inputs