Shreyas Iyer’s back injury woes are likely to continue as after missing out on the India vs. Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s encounter, the Mumbai batter is set to miss the Sri Lanka tie as well, which will be played in Colombo on September 12, 2023.
Iyer had made his much-awaited return to the Indian team against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 Group stage match. He made 14 runs before being dismissed by Haris Rauf. He didn’t get to bat against Nepal.
And then at the toss against Pakistan in the Super 4s stage, Rohit Sharma, the India captain, revealed that Shreyas Iyer had complained of back spasms just before the toss and they had drafted in KL Rahul in his place, who also made his comeback to the Indian team after undergoing surgery for a hip flexor injury.
KL Rahul grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring 111* and adding 233* runs with Virat Kohli (122*) as India posted 356/2 in 50 overs. India then bowled out Pakistan for 128 runs with Kuldeep Yadav taking 5/25 and won the match by 228 runs.
Shreyas Iyer Unavailable For Sri Lanka Game In Super 4s Stage
Coming to Shreyas Iyer is being monitored by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) managers, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) staff, and locally by the team management in Colombo.
Cricbuzz reported that sources indicate that he will not be available for the second Super 4 game.
A spokesperson for the team announced on Sunday, the first day of the team’s two-day game against Pakistan, that Shreyas Iyer experienced a back spasm during warm-up. Skipper Rohit Sharma added during the toss that the issue was detected during warm-up and had forced Iyer to be left out.
Given that the team would be playing back-to-back games for three days against Sri Lanka, there have been some talks about resting some players. Iyer won’t be one of those substitutes, though.
However, signs point to the team management perhaps selecting the same starting lineup as against Pakistan.