"I don’t know the exact report of the scans, but he does not seem to be doing that well" - Rohit Sharma shares grim update on Shreyas Iyer's injury
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that Shreyas Iyer is struggling heavily with a back injury, which could, as a result, potentially keep him out for a prolonged time.
The Mumbai-born batter did not come out to bat in the first innings and was absent on the field as well, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared an update that stated that he would be absent for the remainder of the contest.
The back injury has troubled Shreyas on multiple occasions in the recent past. He was ruled out of the ODI series against New Zealand in February 2023 and even missed the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, leading to the red-ball debut of Suryakumar Yadav.
Divulging Shreyas' injury status, Rohit said following the culmination of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy:
“Poor guy. It just was such an unfortunate incident. He had to wait all day to bat and then when the day got over, the issue he had with his back, recurred. He was sent to the hospital to take scans. I don’t know the exact report of the scans, but he does not seem to be doing that well."
Shreyas underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and was drafted into the playing XI in the middle order from the second Test onwards.
It remains to be seen whether he was rushed into action. If he indeed was, this will not mark the first occasion that a player has picked up a recurring injury since getting clearance from NCA.
"When it happened, it did not look that great" - Rohit Sharma on Shreyas Iyer's injury
Shreyas' mounting injury concerns will also worry the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) hierarchy, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) season only a couple of weeks away. Apart from being a vital batter, he also leads the franchise.
Shedding further light on Iyer's injury, Rohit said:
“Obviously, that’s why he’s not present here, so we don’t know the exact status of how long he will take to recover or when he will be back. When it happened, it did not look that great. I hope he recovers quickly and comes back and plays again."
His participation in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia is also in serious doubt.
While a replacement is yet to be formally named by the management, his absence is more or less understood, given the severity of the injury.
When will the ace batter return to action next? Let us know what you think.
Also Read: ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table (Updated) as on March 13 after 1st NZ vs SL Test