India vs Australia, 2nd Test: Fit again Shreyas Iyer to join teammates in Delhi; Updated India squad

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New Delhi, Feb 14: Having successfully completed his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) following a back injury, India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer will join the India squad ahead of the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia beginning here on Friday (February 17).

Iyer had played the two-match Test series in Bangladesh in December last year but was ruled out of the home ODI series against New Zealand due to swelling in the lower back.

Shreyas Iyer fitness update

Iyer also missed the opening Test against Australia in Nagpur as he had not fully completed his rehabilitation. On Tuesday, the BCCI said in a statement that Iyer had been cleared by its medical team and will join the Test squad in Delhi.

"India batter Shreyas Iyer has successfully completed his rehab at the National Cricket Academy following his back injury and has been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team. Shreyas will join the squad in New Delhi ahead of the second Test of the Mastercard Australia tour of India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy," said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a statement.

Iyer rehabs at NCA in Bengaluru

Iyer had posted a few videos of his intense rehab programme at the NCA in Bengaluru under trainer S Rajnikanth. India have taken a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series after registering an innings and 132-run win against the visitors in Nagpur.

Iyer to replace Suryakumar Yadav in the Playing XI?

Iyer should directly come into the playing eleven against Australia as Suryakumar Yadav played as a replacement for the fellow Mumbaikar. Surya - who has been a force to reckon with in the white-ball format - made his debut in Nagpur Test but failed to make an impression in the game as he scored just 8 runs in the lone innings he got to bat.

India's squad for the second Test: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav.

Packed stadium for IND vs AUS 2nd Test

The match starting on Friday (February 17) is set to be played in front of a packed house at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Delhi is hosting its first Test since December 2017. India won the opening Test in Nagpur inside three days to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

"The tickets are sold out and we are expecting a full house. There is a lot of interest since a Test match is being played in Delhi after a long time," DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda told PTI on Tuesday.

The Arun Jaitley Stadium roughly has a seating capacity of 40,000. A total of 24,000 tickets were put on sale while 8000 were distributed among the DDCA members, which is the norm.

The remaining seats will be used for the dignitaries attending the game. A section of the stands is also reserved for families providing security for the game. The series opener in Nagpur also attracted a healthy crowd, making it a good advert for Test cricket.

(With PTI inputs)