In the Asia Cup, Shreyas Iyer has only played one inning since joining the Indian team two matches ago.
Shreyas Iyer, who had only joined the team two matches ago and had only played one innings so far, suffered a major setback for Team India on Sunday when captain Rohit Sharma announced at the toss during the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four match against Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium that he was on the bench for the crucial match due to a new injury concern. This news shocked veterans, experts, and fans. The team sheet initially listed Rahul as the 13th man and Iyer at his normal No. 4, but the numbers were wiped out before the team was revealed, indicating that it was really a “forced change,” as Rohit noted.
Ishan Kishan, who started in Rahul’s place for the group-stage match against India’s arch-rivals and scored an incredible 82, or Rahul, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since May and then a niggle during his practise at the NCA for his Asia Cup selection, was the main topic of discussion leading up to the Pakistan match. Iyer’s position in the XI, though, was soon in doubt as the conversation quickly moved to whether both could be on the lineup.
Iyer, like Rahul, just made a comeback after a protracted injury absence. He has been out of action since March of this year due to a lower back tension, for which he later underwent surgery. After recuperating in time to make the Asia Cup and World Cup squad, head coach Rahul Dravid was happy with the batter’s development and noted that he had “ticked all the boxes.” The renowned cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar were “concerned” when he suffered a second back injury on Sunday, taking him out of the starting lineup for the match against Pakistan.
After the playing XI was revealed on Sunday, Gavaskar expressed his disappointment in Iyer’s unfortunate turn of events, saying that he appeared to be in good form during the 14-run knock he played against Pakistan in Pallekele. He also said that India would need to have a backup plan in place in case Iyer is unable to recover in time for the World Cup.
It’s definitely worrying. It is cause for concern if a player misses five to six months because of an injury and then sustains another one a month before the World Cup. Fortunately, your World Cup team is subject to change, so if he is injured and doesn’t recover, someone else will step in to take his position. It is unfortunate because he appeared strong against Pakistan. He made a beautiful cover drive,” he remarked.
While Rahul has benefited greatly from Iyer’s ailment, Harbhajan thought that the NCA must answer for it given the surge in players reporting the same injury more frequently.
“Injuries occur frequently in sports. But being hurt so frequently either indicates bad luck or that you are setting yourself up as a target for KL Rahul. His status in the team will suffer as a result of his injury, and I believe that KL Rahul will benefit from it. The fact that players are suffering injuries often and that their training regimen is mostly to blame is quite concerning.
Therefore, NCA must provide an answer to that query as it is there that players go to recover and train. Additionally, KL Rahul adds consistency to the batting order,” he continued.
