Back injury may force Shreyas Iyer to miss first half of coming IPL season | Cricket News – Times of India

MUMBAI: A recurring back injury could see Shreyas Iyer miss not just the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia, starting March 17, but also the first half of IPL 2023, which kicks off on March 31.
Iyer is the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
“He’s definitely out of the IPL till April-end,” a source told TOI.
In a grim initial assessment of Iyer’s injury after the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that the India batter “does not seem to be doing that well.”

Iyer, who didn’t bat in the fourth and final Test against Australia, is currently recovering from his injury at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Iyer flew out of Ahmedabad even before the Test ended to get his back assessed.
Iyer complained of swelling in his lower back during the Ahmedabad Test after having spent nearly two full days on the field.
“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.

(AI image)
During the final Test, the BCCI informed in a statement that a “specialist’s opinion will be sought” to treat Iyer’s back.
The middle-order batter missed the home ODIs against New Zealand as well as the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Nagpur last month due to the injury.
Iyer’s absence could pave the way for wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson to return to India’s ODI squad for the Australia series.