Team India's star middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), could miss this year's Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) as he continues to struggle with a recurring lower back injury. The stylish right-hander batted in second and third Tests of Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was expected to bat in 4th Test as well but his back issue prevented him from doing so.


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Earlier on Sunday, news agency PTI reported that Shreyas Iyer, due to his back pain, will miss the three-match ODI series against Australia, starting March 17 in Mumbai. Now, as per reported by the Indian Express, Iyer is even struggling to walk and will miss a few IPL games. The report further states that if Iyer undergoes surgery, he could be out of action for three to four months, missing the entire IPL 2023.


Iyer has been struggling with his lower back issue since January 2023. He was ruled out playing any match for the national team for a month, including ODI series against New Zealand at home and returned to Bangalore's National Cricket Academy (NCA) for rehabilitation. He made his comeback in IND vs AUS Test series by replacing Suryakumar Yadav in Indian squad for 2nd Test in Delhi.


Captain Rohit Sharma On How Bad Is Shreyas Iyer's Injury


"Poor guy... It just was such an unfortunate incident. He had to wait all day to bat and then when the day got over, the issue he had with his back, recurred. He was sent to the hospital to take scans," the skipper said when asked about the status of the player's fitness, PTI reported.


"I don't know the exact report of the scans, but he does not seem to be doing that well. Obviously, that's why he's not present here," Sharma added.


Rohit Sharma said that he is not sure how long it will take for the dashing batter to be match-fit again.


"So we don't know the exact status of how long he will take to recover or when he will be back. When it happened, it did not look that great. I hope he recovers quickly and comes back and plays again," the skipper said.