REVEALED: Why were Shreyas Iyer & Rishabh Pant excluded from IND's T20I squad vs IRE?

Prominent Indian batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant's omission from India’s T20I series for upcoming 20-over series against Ireland appeared like a blow out of water. Men in Blue are scheduled to travel to Ireland later this month for two T20Is after ongoing 5-match series against South Africa concludes. While Rishabh currently les squ against visiting Proteas side, his deputy Hardik Pandya will be leing team against Ireland in his absence.

Reason behind Iyer & Pant's absence from Ireland tour

Pant me his captaincy debut for India in series, in absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma. fact that Pant and Iyer have been excluded from squ against Ireland, has sparked speculations as to on what grounds have duo been dropped from team. However, as India face England in postponed Test series decider from July 1 to 5, it might be possible that Rishabh and Shreyas have been rested so that y can prepare for England Test. 

Both cricketers were named in India’s Test squ and will directly travel to Birmingham to prepare for Test series decider. Having said that, Suryakumar Yav, Sanju Samson, and Rahul Tripathi are set to return to India squ against Ireland. Meanwhile, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will essay role of Hardik’s deputy in series.

Going ahe in future, two separate teams for T20Is and Tests can be in place, as it has come to work favourably for India so far. During India’s tour of England in 2021, while Virat Kohli-led Test squ played against England, a separate team, led by Shikhar Dhawan, travelled to Sri Lanka for a 3-match ODI and T20I series. It is here teworthy that India is slated to play three T20Is and three ODIs against England after fifth Test. 

A look at India's full squ for both assignments against England and Ireland

India’s Test squ vs England: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yav, Prasidh Krishna

India’s T20I squ vs Ireland: Hardik Pandya (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikw, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, R Bishi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

(Im: PTI/bcci.tv)