India have suffered a big blow before the start of the ODI series against Australia as they are likely to miss out on the services of Shreyas Iyer. The right-handed batsman didn’t come out to bat on day 4 of the ongoing Ahmedabad Test match. As KS Bharat came out to bat ahead of Iyer, the BCCI released a statement regarding his absence.
“Shreyas Iyer complained of pain in his lower back following the third day’s play. He has gone for scans and the BCCI Medical Team is monitoring him,” the board said. Following BCCI’s update, PTI has reported that Iyer is highly likely to miss the ODI series. This also means that he is out of the ongoing fixture and will not bat if an opportunity comes.
It is to be noted that Iyer missed the ODI series against New Zealand due to the same reason. He was replaced by Rajat Patidar for the three ODIs.
“Yes, it could be a case of the injury resurfacing after fielding for nearly 170 overs during the Australian innings. But I fail to understand why was the earlier norm of making it mandatory to play at least one domestic game wasn’t made applicable for Iyer?,” a former national selector told PTI, questioning why Iyer wasn’t asked to play domestic cricket before making his comeback.
Iyer made his comeback for the 2nd Test match and replaced Suryakumar Yadav. He scored 16 runs in Delhi and managed 26 runs in the defeat in the Indore Test match. Rajat, who is waiting for his debut since October, might be recalled to the ODI team once again.
The three ODIs will be played on March 17, 19 and 22 in Mumbai, Vizag and Chennai, respectively. Following the ODI series, the players will join their respective IPL teams. The T20 tournament will kick off on March 31.
