India batter Shreyas Iyer has opted against going for surgery for his back issues for now and will instead focus on rehab and rest while aiming to play in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023, reports have stated.
A report in Cricbuzz stated that Iyer has decided not to opt for the extreme measure for the time being and he will, instead, rest and rehab for a few more days before taking a call on the treatment.
Notably, Shreyas suffered a recurrence of a back injury during the recently held Ahmedabad Test against Australia. He didn’t come out to bat during the first inning due to a back problem. The injury had previously led him to miss the New Zealand ODIs and he had missed the first two Tests against Australia as well.
However, the report also said that while the surgery was imminent, which has also been recommended by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, Iyer wants to see if the injury can be managed without an operation at this stage.
Now it is to be seen whether Shreyas Iyer can play in the upcoming IPL 2023 where he is set to lead the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), at some point in time. Though he is supposed to miss a few matches, Iyer has not been totally ruled out of the season conclusively.
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Cricbuzz also mentioned that more than the IPL, Iyer is keen on participating in the ICC World Cup 2023 which will be played in India from October 5 onwards. If he opts for surgery now, it will rule him out for at least six-seven months with no guarantees that he can come back to competitive action by the time World Cup comes around.
As per the report, on March 17 that he was asked to rest for 10 days by Mumbai-based spine specialist Abhay Nene. He is at home in Mumbai currently, following the expert's advice.
