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Virat Kohli's retirement from Test cricket could pave a way for Shreyas Iyer's Test return after a recent report suggesting that Kohli has told the BCCI he will be retiring from Test cricket just prior to the England series. Although there is no official announcement yet that Kohli is retiring from Test cricket, his retirement would leave an opening at number 4 in the batting order. 

 

Shreyas last played a Test match against England in February 2024. He was dropped from the BCCI Central Contracts list because he did not play domestic red-ball cricket previously as was required by the BCCI earlier in the year. He returned to all domestic red-ball competitions in the second half of 2024 including the Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy.

 

Iyer's scores in the Duleep Trophy were 154 runs in three innings at an average of 25.66. His form improved slowly in the Ranji Trophy competition as he was able to play continuously. Iyer scored 480 runs in 5 matches with an average of 68.5, which included two centuries. In first-class cricket, Iyer has 6363 runs from 81 matches and averages 48.57.

 

Format Mat Inns Runs HS Ave 100s 50s

Tests	14	24	811	105	36.86	1	5
FC	81	137	6363	233	48.57	15	33

 

Iyer also performed well in white-ball cricket leading up to him coming back to play for his country in January 2025. Iyer scored 325 runs in 5 innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and 345 runs in 9 innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games. Iyer capped off his incredible comeback by being India's leading run-scorer in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

 

Iyer debuted in the Test format in 2021 and has played 14 Tests, managing to compile 811 runs at 36.86, with 1 century and 5 fifties. The majority of his runs came while batting at no.6, where he scored 432 runs in 7 Tests, but he was also successful from no.5, with 294 runs coming from 6 matches, before reaching no.4 and scoring 56 runs in that appearance. 

 

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Prior to this, Iyer hadn't spent much time batting at no.4, but his confidence suggests he is a strong candidate for this position when Kohli relinquishes it, and he will have overall upside due to his first class experience (6363 runs, 81 matches, average 48.57). 

 

It is unfair to compare Iyer to Kohli given the latter's vast experience. Kohli has scored 7564 runs in 98 Test matches at number four with an average of 50.09. Kohli did have a challenging outing in the previous series against Australia. India certainly has many options to accompany at the number 4 spot, but Iyer's recent form, he should be a contender. It'll now depend on the selectors willingness to reinstate him in their Test plans.

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