Dhruv Jurel is leading the India A team against Australia A in the 2nd unofficial Test, as Shreyas Iyer, who was the captain in the previous match, pulled himself out of the competition, which left Indian cricket fans in shock. Why did he decide to skip the match? 

It is learned that Iyer was about to play this match at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. His decision to pull himself out of the match came at the last minute. It is also reported that the batter already left the team and returned to Mumbai. It is not clear why he skipped the game and returned home.

According to reports, Iyer communicated with the officials about his decision not to participate in the game. Ahead of the India vs. West Indies Test series, which is scheduled to be held in October, the 30-year-old's withdrawal from the match against Australia A is considered a significant move. Will it harm his ambitions of returning to the Test format for India? The question remains. 

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Iyer, who was in outstanding form in domestic cricket and IPL 2025 for Punjab Kings, lost rhythm in the last few weeks. In the previous unofficial test, when both teams scored over 500 runs each, Iyer got only eight runs off 13 balls before being dismissed by Corey Rocchiccioli. During the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone, the middle-order batter registered 25 and 12 for West Zone. 

Playing XIs

Australia A: Sam Konstas, Campbell Kellaway, Nathan McSweeney (c), Oliver Peake, Cooper Connolly, Josh Philippe (w), Jack Edwards, Will Sutherland, Corey Rocchiccioli, Todd Murphy, Henry Thornton

India A: N Jagadeesan, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (w/c), Ayush Badoni, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar