Shreyas Iyer Opts Against Surgery, Expects To Recover In Time For World Test Championship Final: Report

Shreyas Iyer has reportedly deferred his surgery and is opting for other modes of recovery at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Iyer was part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but complained of back pain during the fourth Test match in Ahmedabad and was taken for scans, playing no further part in the match ( Image Source :AFP )

India have a chance to win two ICC trophies in 2023. While they have already sealed a place in the World Test Championship final which will be played in June this year, they also have the ICC ODI World Cup set to be played at home in October-November. One player who could be the key in both these games is Shreyas Iyer. However, the situation with regards to his fitness has been a cause of worry for the Men in Blue.

While he was part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he complained of back pain during the fourth Test match in Ahmedabad and was taken for scans, playing no further part in the match. Later, he was ruled out of the ODI series and is surely out of action for at least the first half of the IPL. Even though initial reports had suggested that he could undergo a back surgery which would have meant a longer injury layoff, Iyer reportedly has opted against a surgery and has headed to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.

"He has met the specialist and the NCA officials. All are on the same page that the operation can be deferred. He will follow the experts' advice," a source close to the player was quoted as saying as per this Cricbuzz report. 

It is being learnt that right-handed batter is eyeing to recover in time for the World Test Championship final. Having said that, the team management and medical staff will be extremely careful in handling this Iyer injury especially after the case of Jasprit Bumrah who was brought back into the team but ended up aggravating is injury, not being able to make a comeback since September.

Adding more worries for team is the form of Suryakumar Yadav who has been tried at Iyer's place both in Tests and ODIs but hasn't yet produced a result encouraging enough to have a confirmed berth for himself at the World Cup. 

The Indian team would be expecting Iyer to recover quickly and Suryakumar to find form so that the captain rather has a problem of plenty than of scarcity in terms of middle-order batting options.