Is Cheteshwar Pujara a solution? Shreyas Iyer question troubles India before squad announcement for last 3 England Tests

To retain Shreyas Iyer, or not to retain: that is the question. It was precisely what was posed right after India levelled the series at 1-1 in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

And it has remained among the cynosures in the buildup to the third Test against England in Rajkot amid his run of low scores in this series – 35, 13, 27, 29. The 29-year-old has now gone 13 consecutive innings without scoring even a fifty, where he averages only 17, and is yet to score his second Test century since his debut appearance in November 2021 – that’s a stretch of 23 innings.

However, the dilemma for the selection committee, which met on Friday to pick the squad for the last three Tests against England, was partially solved as it has been reported that Iyer complained of stiff back and groin pain to the team management after the second Test. But if the right-hander misses out, who will replace him in the playing XI for the 3rd Test, which begins on February 15 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium?

KL Rahul, a likely swap

With Virat Kohli set to reportedly miss the final three matches against England as well, having earlier pulled out of the opening two games citing personal reasons, Rahul is set to reclaim the No. 4 spot. He had earlier missed the second Test after complaining of quadriceps pain after the opening game in Hyderabad. But having had enough time to recover since, Rahul will be an ideal option for the team management to take over the role and bring some experience to the line-up. He had scored a fluent 86 in the first innings of the Hyderabad game.