Shreyas Iyer Scores Unbeaten Century For Mumbai To Present For Selection In Champions Trophy Squad

Mumbai skipper, Shreyas Iyer continues his blistering run of form as he smashed his second century in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy with an unbeaten 137 against Puducherry in Ahmedabad on Friday.

The reigning Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy winners found themselves in a spot of bother where the Mumbai top-order batters failed to give them a platform for a big score. But Iyer led from the front as he smashed his 14th List-A hundred.

The IPL-winning captain looked in fine touch as he smashed boundaries to all parts of the ground with relative ease despite the pressure that was on him. He initially lacked support from the other end with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav falling for a duck.

But he finally found some in the number seven batter, Atharva Vinod Ankolekar who had scored 43 runs to take Mumbai to 290/9 in their 50 overs. Iyer will be expected to continue his stellar form with the bat, should he be considered for a call-up for the national team anytime soon. His run-scoring tendencies will make his case stronger considering the Champions Trophy 2025 that is coming up.

Hardik Disappoints But Captain Krunal Steps Up

In the game between Baroda and Madhya Pradesh, the spotlight was on Hardik Pandya considering his stellar form of late. But he was not able to put in a similar kind of performance and was overshadowed by his brother, Krunal who is also the captain. The older of the Pandya brothers stepped up and smashed 87 runs off 78 deliveries to help them set a target of 302 by the end of the first innings.

India’s ace all-rounder will be keen to be amongst the runs considering his barren run for the past few games and also keep himself fit for the upcoming Champions Trophy campaign where he would have a more prominent role to play.

So far Hardik’s performance with the new ball has not been up to the mark, but he will be expected to use the time in the domestic format to hone his skills and get him up to speed for the upcoming international games.