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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked newly appointed T20 captain Shreyas Iyer to join the national camp ahead of the 3-match ODI series between India and Afghanistan. As per BCCI instructions, Iyer will join the camp soon.
After a break of a few days following the conclusion of the IPL 2026 season, Iyer joined SOBO Mumbai Falcons for the 2026 T20 Mumbai League. He has played a few matches there with the Falcons, but he will have to miss the tournament as the board has asked him to join the national camp.
Shreyas Iyer will join the national camp
According to a Mumbai Mirror report, Shreyas Iyer has been asked by the BCCI to join the national camp in Chandigarh on Tuesday ahead of the ODI series against Afghanistan. Thus, since Iyer will have to leave the current state franchise league, the Falcons will have to announce a new captain for the remaining season. It is expected that Iyer will not be able to take part in the remaining matches of the 2026 T20 Mumbai League.
“Shreyas will join the team tomorrow. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will join the team after completing their fitness assessment at the COE in Bengaluru,” a source close to the development told the media house.
In today’s Mumbai Mirror 🙂 pic.twitter.com/FUsjCKfjfk
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Aditya Tare can replace Iyer
As of now, Sobo Mumbai Falcons have to play at least two more matches in the current season. They will face Akash Tigers MWS and North Mumbai Panthers on June 9 and June 10 respectively. Shreyas Iyer will not play in both the matches. Aditya Tare is expected to lead the team in Iyer’s absence.
So far Iyer has played three matches for the franchise. In these three games, the veteran batsman scored 5, 30 and 61 runs in the tournament. In his last match with the Falcons, Shreyas Iyer helped his team register a crucial win over Suryakumar Yadav’s Triumph Knights.
Shreyas Iyer is the deputy of ODI captain Shubman Gill, so he will have to be in training from the beginning. As mentioned in the report, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are also expected to join the camp ahead of the 50-over series. Rohit and Hardik’s participation is still a matter of concern as they suffered injuries during the IPL 2026 season with Mumbai Indians.
Concern about Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
Due to Rohit Sharma’s hamstring injury and Hardik Pandya’s back spasm, the BCCI wants him to pass a fitness test at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. After the one-off Test against Afghanistan, which India won by an innings and 300 runs in Mullanpur, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said he had not heard anything disappointing about Rohit and Hardik. During the team announcement, the board mentioned that their participation in the series is subject to their fitness status.
The ODI series against Afghanistan is going to be important for Shreyas Iyer as it will be his first match with the national team after being appointed as the leader of the T20 International format. He would like to score big numbers of runs before the UK tour, where he will make his debut as the captain of Team India.