KKR, Team India handed huge blow as Shreyas Iyer ruled out of IPL 2023 and WTC final; to undergo back surgery
Shreyas Iyer has decided to undergo a surgery for his back injury and hence will be out of action for three months.
Kolkata Knights Riders (KKR) and Indian cricket team on Tuesday were handed a huge blow as star batter Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the entire ongoing IPL 2023 season and the impending World Test Championship final, which will be held in June. According to reports, Iyer has decided to undergo a surgery for his back injury and hence will be out of action for three months. (DC vs GT Live Score, IPL 2023)
Iyer has been suffering from back injury from quite sometime now. He had missed a limited-overs fixture earlier this last year in December against Bangladesh before the injury forced him out of the final Test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. He then was ruled out of the three-match ODI contest at home against the Steve Smith-led side.
According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Iyer had experienced a swelling his lower back on both the occasions which also led to a shooting pain in the calf. Iyer had waited to decide on surgery before the start of IPL 2023 to see if the pain can be cured through medicines, and was in fact training at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore under the watchful eyes BCCI's medical staff while KKR hoped that he would return for the second half of the season. However, the report added that the India batter was unable to train at the NCA and hence will now be travelling abroad for the surgery and hence will be out of action for more than three months which includes post-recovery training as well.
KKR, meanwhile, had announced Nitish Rana as the new skipper in Iyer's stead and the team will be hoping to make the most of home conditions on Thursday when they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their second IPL 2023 match, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR had earlier lost to Punjab Kings in a rain-hit match last week in Mohali, going down by seven runs via DLS method.