India cricketer and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer is staring at the possibility of missing the early games of the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).
According to sources, Indian cricketer Iyer is unlikely to take part in the opening games of the IPL in the current scenario and the surety loomed thorough when Shreyas was not seen on field during the Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha when the right-hand batsman didn’t take the field for two consecutive days at the Wankhede Stadium.
Shreyas had smashed a blistering 95 off 111 balls for Mumbai in the second innings, setting a stiff target of 538 for the defending champions. The skipper was seen struggling with back pain though, and required immediate attention from the physio, following which he didn’t take the field.
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He was given some treatment and it was expected that the following day he would be fine to take the field, but he remained absent, feeding intense speculation. Shreyas first felt some discomfort in his back after the game during the second Test against England and he had said that such a situation would arise as the match goes on for long. According to Mumbai’s team sources, initially, after Shreyas’ pain did not subside and cleared all medical tests, the BCCI medical staff declared him fit and just said “Go on” and he played the third Test and also performed credibly.
Shreyas was India’s standout batsman in the first innings with scores of 28, 9 and 67 not out. Even though he was playing international cricket and the Indian board does not allow players to carry injuries into matches, for the fourth Test against England at the Oval, Shreyas did not make the cut and even he was dropped from the team since then he has been struggling with the issue. Mumbai’s league game against Tripura leading to their last knock-out was Shreyas’ first following his comeback, in which there were such spasms that he couldn’t stand, “but he somehow managed to continue till five (in knock-out), and then also went on attend the KKR’s pre-season camp,” their team sources said. Mumbai cricket is closely followed by the BCCI.
Their secretary and former national selection committee convenor Sanjay Patel had said that if the national team can keep playing through injury, then a player eyeing selection, playing for the state or playing IPL to keep his brand goes on. Despite all these, Shreyas has been not seen in the quarter-final and also missed the rest of the knock-out to be dropped from the list of the BCCI’s centrally contracted players. Shreyas is still managing that issue as per the latest information, and if that continues, Shreyas will miss the first games of KKR.
