Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of IPL 2023 and World Test Championship final, sources told NDTV. Iyer is scheduled to undergo back surgery that will see him being sidelined for a few months. Iyer was named in India’s ODI squad for the 3-match series against Australia but was ruled out before the opener. He had to leave the Ahmedabad Test due to a recurrence of a back injury, for which he will now go under the knife.
In a press conference, India skipper Rohit Sharma was also asked about Iyer’s injury where he had admitted that the scans ‘didn’t look good’.
The Indian cricket team sees Suryakumar as Shreyas Iyer’s replacement at the No. 4 spot. Though Surya hasn’t managed to replicate his T20I form in ODI cricket, he arguably remains the biggest contender to take up the job, especially with the ODI World Cup in mind. Suryakumar enjoys the Indian team management’s trust and Rohit had recently expressed the same.
“We don’t know about Iyer’s return at this time. There is a spot available and Surya has shown a lot of potential in white-ball cricket,” Rohit said in the presser. “Have said many times before that guys with potential need to be given a long run. Of course, he knows that he needs to do it better in the slightly longer formats of the game as well.
“Things are there in his mind as well. But like I said, guys with potential need to be given enough rope at that particular slot. Yes, he has got out in the last two games and in the previous series as well. But he needs to be given a consistent run. Like back-to-back games. So that he feels more comfortable.
“Right now he has got the chance because someone is injured or someone is not available. That is not ideal. After being given a consistent run, if you realize, runs are not coming or he is looking uncomfortable, then we’ll start thinking about it,” the Indian skipper added.
In Iyer’s absence, Kolkata Knight Riders would need to find a new skipper. Andre Russell could arguably be a top contender for the role.
As for the World Test Championship final, Iyer’s injury might open up space for Sarfaraz Khan, a domestic cricket hero who has been ignored for India’s Test team for a while now.
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