Mumbai batter Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday notched up a stunning century in the ongoing Ranji Trophy Tournament, against Odisha at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in Mumbai. The 101-ball knock was Iyer's second consecutive century in the domestic tournament, having earlier scored 142 against Maharashtra last month.

According to a report in the Times of India, troubled by a shoulder injury, Iyer requested the Mumbai Cricket Association for a break from Mumbai's fourth-round match against Tripura in Agartala last month, which ended in a draw. However, he returned to the squad ahead of the Odisha game, and laced 14 boundaries and two sixes to continue his sublime form as he ramped up his 15th First-Class century.

Earlier in the day, the visitors won the toss and opted to bowl. While Suryakant Pradhan removed opener Ayush Mhatre in the fifth over of the innings, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Siddhesh Lad stitched a valiant 135-run stand for the second wicket to revive Mumbai innings, although the former agonisingly fell short of a well-deserved century by eight runs.

Odisha crawled by with Biplab Samantray striking twice in two balls, dismissing captain Ajinkya Rahane for a golden duck, but Iyer had other plans for the tourists as he paired up with Lad to weave an unbeaten century stand for the fourth wicket that took Mumbai's total well past the 300-run mark.

A perfectly-timed century from Iyer?

The India star has long been looking for a way back into the Test set-up since being dropped midway through the series against England earlier this year. He was picked for the Duleep Trophy earlier in September and was part of the Irani Cup match for Mumbai as well, but failed to impress the selectors following a forgettable start to his red-ball season.

However, in the last three weeks, Iyer notched up back-to-back centuries in the Ranji Trophy, and the timing couldn't be more perfect with Indian selectors scratching their heads over the team's horrendous batting show against New Zealand in the recently-concluded home Test series. Some of the players who find themselves under scrutiny are middle-order batters Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan.

The former India captain scored only 250 runs this year in 12 innings at 22.72, his worst in a calendar year (minimum of 10 innings), of which 93 came against the Kiwis at 15.50, a worst home Test series average in seven years. Sarfaraz, on the other hand, did hog the limelight with his majestic 150 against New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru but scored only 21 runs in the next four innings, including a duck, which left experts questioning his selection for the Australia series.

With the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy likely to be a make-or-break series for many India players, a consistent show from Iyer could see him make a comeback to the Test set-up when the team tours England in the summer of 2025.

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