Sarfaraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer's comeback date confirmed as India duo sets sight on return to Test cricket

India batters Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer have confirmed their availability to participate in the Duleep Trophy for the West Zone. The tournament is set to begin on August 28, and the zonal selection will happen on Friday afternoon. Speaking to Hindustan Times, sources with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) confirmed that both Shreyas and Sarfaraz Khan have confirmed to the cricket body their willingness to participate in the tournament. India's Shreyas Iyer during England's tour of India in 2024(AFP)

Apart from Shreyas and Sarfaraz, Shivam Dube and Tushar Deshpande have also confirmed their intention to participate in the tournament. West Zone have already qualified for the semi-final and they will take on the winner of the quarter-final on September 4.

"Yes, Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan have confirmed their availability. Tushar Deshpande and Shivam Dube are available as well for the crucial tie," the source told Hindustan Times.

Shreyas Iyer currently finds himself out of favour when it comes to being picked for the Test side. He has played 14 Tests for India, scoring one century and five fifties. His performance in the domestic season for Mumbai last season led to people believing that he would be picked in the Test squad for the series against England.

However, it was quite the contrary as the Ajit Agarkar-led committee looked past him for the five-match series. At that time, Agarkar had said, "Shreyas had a good ODI series, played well in domestic as well, but right now there's no room in Test cricket."

On the other hand, head coach Gautam Gambhir had said that anyone can make a comeback into the Test squad as long as they keep grinding it out in domestic cricket.

Earlier this year, Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but the side came up short against Rajat Patidar's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Sarfaraz Khan eyes comeback

Sarfaraz Khan, who has been piling on the runs in domestic cricket, was overlooked for the England tour despite grinding it out and losing several kilos. The right-handed batter's weight has been a talking point for so long; hence, it is no surprise that he decided to work on the same.

Sarfaraz, who scored 150 runs in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand last year, failed to set the stage on fire in the next two Tests, and this led to him warming the bench in the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Shardul Thakur has been chosen to lead the West Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz, Shreyas and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been named in the squad, while Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been ignored.

Earlier, the South Zone had named Tilak Varma as their skipper for the Duleep Trophy. KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, and Mohammed Siraj have not been picked in the team.

West Zone squad: Shardul Thakur (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmendra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala.

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