The Indian cricket team and the National Cricket Academy (NCA) are facing criticism again due to the recurrence of Shreyas Iyer’s back injury. Iyer did not come out to bat at No. 6 due to pain in his lower back during Day 4 of the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday. There is a high probability that Iyer could miss the three-match ODI series against Australia, starting on March 17 in Mumbai.
With the World Cup being the most important tournament of the year, and Iyer set to lead the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023, it would be wise for him to take some time off to recover. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) provided a medical update, saying that Iyer had gone for scans and that the BCCI Medical Team was monitoring him.
Iyer’s injury came to light after wicketkeeper-batter Srikar Bharat came out to bat ahead of him following the dismissal of Ravindra Jadeja (28) in the morning session. Iyer had also missed the first Test in Nagpur due to a back issue before returning for the second game in Delhi.
The question now is whether the NCA gave the go-ahead to a player who was not fully fit. It is learned that Iyer felt the discomfort on Saturday, and hence Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to No. 5. On Sunday, the player did not even come to the ground as he was in no position to bat.
A former national selector told PTI, “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 the earlier norm of making it mandatory to play at least one domestic game wasn’t made applicable for Iyer?”.
Iyer missed the Nagpur Test and was declared fit before the second Test, playing in both Delhi and Indore, but his body did not go through the rigours like it did in Ahmedabad. When he first had the lower back issue in January, Iyer was out for one month and underwent an intense rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). By the time he was declared fit, the Ranji Trophy season was over. “But you had an Irani Cup happening, and you could have waited for Iyer’s comeback and let him play Irani Cup in similar weather conditions and maybe see how the body holds while being on the field for two days in humid conditions,” the selector said.
