If he will get his clearance, Iyer is a frontrunner for a middle-order slot in opposition to Australia, as an incumbent who averaged 101.00 in India’s final sequence, the two-Test tour of Bangladesh in December. Other contenders embrace Suryakumar Yadav, who’s but to make his Test debut, and presumably Shubman Gill in case India open with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.