India batter Shreyas Iyer opened up on his battle with paralysis from a back injury that derailed his international career just over two years ago.

The 30-year-old also struggled with recurring back injury last year before losing his BCCI central contract. He was dropped from the Test side and was not considered for selection in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad.

While this year has brought incredible highs, Shreyas was confined to an English hospital bed in 2023, struggling through severe pain.

“No one can understand the pain I went through. I was totally paralysed in one leg. With spine surgery, you can place a rod in the back and still manage. But a snapped nerve, which is what I had, is really, really dangerous," Iyer said while speaking to GQ India.

“The pain was horrendous, running all the way down to my tiny toe. It was so scary," he added.

The surgery was successful, but the middle-order star needed a year to recover completely. It was around this time that he was sacked from BCCI’s central contract list.

“People see athletes as robots who have to perform in every game. They do not know what is happening behind the scenes," Iyer stated.

The star Indian batter has been in the news since August, having been dropped from the Asia Cup squad, which fans and many experts believed was an injustice to him given his performance in the domestic circuit as well as in IPL 2025, where he was the highest run-scorer for Punjab Kings.

“I can only control the controllable. I can only keep working on my skills and strength and when the opportunity arises, I will grab it with both hands," Iyer said.

Shreyas Iyer’s omission was one of the biggest talking points when India’s 15-member T20I squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was announced last month.

The contentious point was that Shreyas wasn’t even considered in the reserves for the continental showpiece, which got underway on September 9 in the UAE.

The right-hander hasn’t been in the T20 scheme of things since the beginning of 2024. However, he had strengthened his selection claims through consistent performances in the IPL over the past two editions.

Iyer played a key role both as a batter and captain, leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title win in 2024, and guiding PBKS to the final of the IPL 2025 season.

“I can only control the controllable. I can only keep working on my skills and strength and when the opportunity arises, I will grab it with both hands," Iyer remarked.