Gautam Gambhir Effect? Shreyas Iyer Set To Return For Sri Lanka ODIs In July-August: Report

Out of favour batter Shreyas Iyer is all set to return to the Indian team for the three ODIs against Sri Lanka scheduled for July-August later this year. (More Cricket News)

According to a PTI report published on Tuesday, Gautam Gambhir's expected appointment as the head coach for India could bring Iyer back into contention for the national side after the right-hander was sidelined from BCCI's central contract.

Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to their first IPL title after a decade earlier this year and Gambhir was the mentor of the side.

A well placed BCCI source told PTI that even though Iyer's selection for Zimbabwe tour, which takes place right after the World Cup, is not confirmed, the KKR skipper is set to be back in the ODI setup.

"There is every possibility that Shreyas will travel for the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka," the source said.

"The last ODI that India played was in South Africa and he scored a half-century (52). He had 500 plus runs (530) in World Cup and averages just around 50. Can you drop him?" he added.

Iyer alongside Ishan Kishan was excluded from the BCCI central contracts after reports suggested that the duo did not play domestic cricket even after the board's diktat.

After his exclusion from the central contract, Iyer did feature in the Ranji Trophy final for Mumbai and scored a valuable 90. He then had a scintillating 2023 Cricket World Cup where he scored 530 runs at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of 113. Iyer smashed two centuries in the tournament including one in the semifinal against New Zealand.

His stocks rose further when KKR finally ended their 10-year wait to win the IPL 2024 under his captaincy. His leadership skills were widely praised by experts and so was his partnership with Gambhir.