Injured Shreyas Iyer doubtful for Australia ODIs

India batter Shreyas Iyer is in doubt for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia starting March 17

New Delhi: India batter Shreyas Iyer is in doubt for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia starting March 17 due to the recurrence of his back injury.

After having spent nearly two full days on the field, Iyer complained of swelling in his lower back during the Ahmedabad Test and didn’t come to bat in the fourth and final Test against Australia. He is currently under the supervision of BCCI’s medical team at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where he will be assessed, an ESPNcricinfo report said.

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The report further said that the right-handed batter flew out of Ahmedabad even before the Test ended to seek a prognosis of his condition and is certain to miss at least the first ODI.

Notably, India skipper Rohit Sharma after the end of the Ahmedabad Test had said that Iyer ‘does not seem to be doing that well’.

“Poor guy. It just was such an unfortunate incident. He had to wait all day [second 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,” Rohit said after India’s 2-1 series win.

On Monday, the fifth and final day of the Test, the BCCI stated in a media release that a “specialist’s opinion will be sought” to treat Iyer’s condition, which is a recurrence of the issue he experienced in December following the tour of Bangladesh.

At that time, Iyer had swelling in his lower back for which he was given an injection at the NCA. His rehabilitation at the time took longer than expected, with Iyer missing the home ODIs against New Zealand as well as the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Nagpur last month.

The 28-year old’s back injury is also likely to concern the Kolkata Knight Riders, the franchise he will be leading at IPL 2023.