Mumbai cricket team star Shreyas Iyer was reportedly offered captaincy for West Zone in Duleep Trophy but turned it down. Last week, the selectors named Shardul Thakur as the skipper of the West Zone for the upcoming tournament that begins from August 28. As per reports, Iyer refused to take up captaincy as he was expecting to be included in India’s Asia Cup squad. However, he was snubbed from the 15-man squad and did not even find a place on the list of reserves.
Iyer turned down West Zone captaincy offer
As per Times of India, a source claimed that Iyer was offered the captaincy role but had declined it. The source said that after Shreyas’ decision, committee chairman Sanjay Patil had approached Shardul who gladly accepted the offer. Further, the report states that despite declining the captaincy offer, Shreyas made himself available for the tournament.
‘Yes, it is true that Iyer declined the offer from the West Zone selection committee to captain the team. Following that, committee chairman Sanjay Patil, who is also the Mumbai chief selector, approached Thakur to lead the side – an opportunity the latter gladly accepted,” a source told the publication.
The report states that in anticipation of a call-up to the Asia Cup squad, Shreyas had even commenced white-ball preparations with Pravin Amre. He was reportedly training with his personal coach at the MCA’s BKC and the Cricket Club of India. However, much to his despair, he was snubbed from the squad.
When chief selector Ajit Agarkar was asked about Iyer’s exclusion, the former claimed that while it was no fault of the batter’s, there was no one he could replace in the team and that he had to wait for his chance.
West Zone squad for Duleep Trophy
Shardul Thakur (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wicket-keeper), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmandrasinh Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala
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