India have suffered a massive blow in the form of premier batter Shreyas Iyer, who will miss the entire One Day International (ODI) series against Australia. Middle-order batter Iyer has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match series between India and Australia due to a recurrence of his lower-back injury. India will be without skipper Rohit Sharma in its upcoming encounter with Australia at Mumbai.
In the absence of all-format skipper Rohit, all-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the Virat Kohli-starrer side in the 1st ODI against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium. Speaking in the traditional press conference ahead of the 1st ODI between the two teams, Indian fielding coach T Dilip revealed that the hosts will miss the services of middle-order batter Iyer in the Australia series.
"Injuries are a part and parcel of the game. We have the best medical facilities and they are well-equipped… We are in co-ordination (with NCA). Shreyas ruled out of this series. (We will be able to provide) further update as and when we know," India's fielding coach Dilip told reporters in his debut press conference.
Team India is yet to name Iyer's replacement for the ODI series against Australia. Iyer had recently returned to the Test side for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, Iyer's lower back problems resurfaced in the 4th Test and the star batter didn't come out to bat for the hosts in the 1st innings against Australia. Iyer was later ruled out of the 5th Test on the final day of the series decider due to lower back pain.
{{/usCountry}}Team India is yet to name Iyer's replacement for the ODI series against Australia. Iyer had recently returned to the Test side for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, Iyer's lower back problems resurfaced in the 4th Test and the star batter didn't come out to bat for the hosts in the 1st innings against Australia. Iyer was later ruled out of the 5th Test on the final day of the series decider due to lower back pain.
{{/usCountry}}Iyer had also missed the Test series opener against Australia after the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper failed to recover from a back injury. Earlier, Iyer was also unavailable for the New Zealand ODI series with the same injury. Iyer has amassed 1631 runs in 42 ODIs for Team India. The middle-order batter made his Team India debut against New Zealand at Delhi in 2017.
India’s ODI squad against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.