'Necessary for me...,' Shreyas Iyer on 50 in Duleep Trophy with aim to make India Test comeback

India batter Shreyas Iyer showed a lot of intent with bat in the second innings for India D in the ongoing Duleep Trophy (domestic red-ball tournament) against India C. Iyer, who leads India D, couldn't save his team from loss but did manage to score a flashy 50 on a difficult Anantpur pitch.

Iyer scored 54 off just 44 balls with nine fours and a six as his team folded up for 236 after being bowled out for 164 in the first innings where Iyer managed just 9 off 16.

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"It was necessary for me to show intent because their bowlers were bowling great, in the right areas and the ball was seaming as well. I just wanted to take the attack and see if we could get a decent total on board. When the ball got old, it was stopping a bit. I wanted to capitalise on my intent, but, I would take that fifty any day," Shreyas Iyer said after the match.

"The pitch did not offer much, there was no spin for the bowlers. Saransh bowled in great areas. There were few patches on the pitch created by the fast bowlers where the ball spun from outside of the off-stump, other than that it was quite dead. Hopefully, we learn from this and move on," he added in his interview with the broadcaster.

Iyer was removed from Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) contract list for the ongoing year and is looking to make a comeback to the Test team.

India have three Test series planned from September 19 - two at home and one away. They first play Bangladesh for two-Test series from September 19 before hosting New Zealand for a three-Test series.

India then travel to Australia for a five-Test Border-Gavaskar series with an aim to win their third consecutive Test series Down Under.