As India decided to claw away at the Australian first innings total of 480 in the ongoing fourth Test being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, they missed the services of batter Shreyas Iyer who suffered an injury.
Shreyas Iyer had recently missed the home series against New Zealand and the first Test against Australia in Nagpur, due to lower back pain. He then played in the next two Tests of the ongoing Test series against Australia making scores of 4,12, 0, and 26.
It is learnt that Iyer felt the discomfort on Saturday and hence Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to No. 5. On Sunday, the player didn't even come to the ground as he was in no position to bat.
Iyer's injury came to light after wicketkeeper-batter Kona Bharat came out to bat ahead of him following the dismissal of Ravindra Jadeja (28) in the morning session.
"Shreyas Iyer complained of pain in his lower back following the third day's play. He has gone for scans and the BCCI Medical Team is monitoring him," BCCI said in a medical update.
Now reports have suggested that there is a high chance of Shreyas Iyer missing the upcoming three-ODI series against Australia starting March 17 in Mumbai. With World Cup being the most important tournament of the year and him set to lead KKR in the IPL 2023, it would be prudent if he takes a rest for some time.
"Yes, it could be a case of the injury resurfacing after fielding for nearly 170 overs during the Australian innings. But I fail to understand why was the earlier norm of making it mandatory to play at least one domestic game wasn't made applicable for Iyer?," a former national selector told PTI.
However, now questions are being raised at the officials and medical staff at the NCA in Bengaluru after Iyer’s back pain resurfaced. India is already missing the services of Jasprit Bumrah due to his stress reaction to his back and he is slated to miss the entire IPL 2023 as he undergoes surgery for the same.
Now it remains to be seen how much Shreyas Iyer misses as he already spent one month due to the same issue and had undergone intense rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and by the time he was declared fit, the Ranji Trophy season was over.
"But you had an Irani Cup happening and you could have waited for Iyer's comeback and let him play Irani Cup in similar weather conditions and maybe see how the body holds while being on the field for two days in humid conditions," the selector said.
(PTI inputs)
