Shreyas Iyer has been India’s go-to Test batter alongside Rishabh Pant in last couple of years: Ravi Ashwin

Veteran Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin, who will be one of the integral parts of the four-match Test series against Australia, has claimed that Shreyas and Rishabh Pant have been India’s go-to Test batters in the last few years.

India and Australia are going to battle once again in the Border Gavaskar Trophy starting this month in Nagpur. The last three Border Gavaskar Trophies have been won by the Asian Giants and even though India has home advantage this time, the Australians would give a tough fight in each and every Test.

India has announced a full-fledged squad for the first two Test matches in Nagpur and Delhi that will be played this month. However, they have already received their first setback as Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the Nagpur Test starting on 9th February as he has not recovered from the back issue which has kept him out for sometime now.

India will already be missing the services of Rishabh Pant, who met with a serious car accident in December last year. Ashwin, while speaking on his YouTube channel, discussed how important both Iyer and Pant are to the team and how they both were India’s go-to Test batters in last couple of years.

“Shreyas Iyer has been India’s go-to Test batter alongside Rishabh Pant in the last couple of years. That in itself is a lesser compliment for him. He has been the backbone of this batting order. He is going to be a crucial player for India in Pant’s absence," Ashwin added.

The Kolkata Knight Riders captain had a great 2022 where he was India’s top run getter in ODIs, as he scored 724 runs and made it to the ICC ODI Team of the year along with number one ranked ODI bowler and teammate -  Mohammed Siraj. India would hope that Iyer is fully fit ahead of the first Test, which is just round the corner.

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