Shreyas Iyer scored his second consecutive Ranji Trophy ton, reaching three figures in just 101 balls against Odisha at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in BKC, Mumbai today (November 6).
Batting first against Odisha after losing the toss, Mumbai lost opener Ayush Mhatre in the fifth over before Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who shot into limelight during IPL 2024 playing for KKR, stitched a 135-run second-wicket partnership with Siddhesh Lad. Raghuvanshi was out for 92, eight short of his maiden first-class ton, bringing captain Ajinkya Rahane to the crease.
Rahane's stay lasted one ball as he was trapped lbw by veteran all-rounder Biplab Samantray for a golden duck. Iyer came out to bat at No.5, and was at his usual, fluent best. Along with Lad, Iyer dominated the Odisha bowling, taking just 101 balls to reach his 15th first-class century.
This is also Iyer's second ton in as many matches, having also scored a century (142) against Maharashtra two rounds back. In between, Iyer had an eventful time. He missed Mumbai's match against Tripura for reasons that were not clear.
Some reports said he was injured, some said he needed rest, while some said it was due to "personal reasons". The speculation was such that Iyer himself put out a social media post in response to one such report, asking people to "do some homework befoe publishing news".
That was not all. The IPL retention deadline also passed between the two Iyer Ranji Trophy hundreds. Having led KKR to victory in IPL 2024, Iyer was strangely not retained by the franchise.
However, despite all the off-field chaos, Iyer seems to be back to his best with the bat. He was neither picked for the Australia Tests, nor for the India A squad shadow touring the main side, and would be looking to continue his run-scoring to force his way back into the Test side.
At the time of writing, Iyer has amassed more than 340 runs this season in five innings and is still going strong at the BKC ground against Odisha. Rahane, on the other hand, has struggled so far, managing only 155 runs in seven outings at an average of 25.8.
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