Kolkata Knight Riders' full-time skipper Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out from the 2023 season of Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) and INDIA vs AUSTRALIA World Test Championship (WTC) Final in June, ESPNcricinfo reported. As per the report, Iyer, who suffered a lower-back injury last year, is expected to miss action for at least three months before he starts training as the star middle-order batter will be travelling overseas for the surgery.


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Shreyas Iyer experienced swelling in his lower back last year in December 2022,  in December, following India's tour of Bangladesh.


Iyer complained of back pain while he was part of IND vs AUS Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was then taken for scans, playing no further part in the series. Later, Iyer was ruled out of the India vs Australia ODI series that followed. Initially it was reported that Iyer would miss only the first part of IPL but might return for the second-half of the tournament. However, as per the latest report, the recurring lower-back injury has now forced him to travel abroad for a surgery.


The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) medical staff is being extremely careful in handling Iyer's injury especially after the case of Jasprit Bumrah, who tried making a comeback but ended up aggravating his injury, not being able to make a comeback since September.


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Shreyas Iyer's absence left Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with no choice but to name his replacement and then Nitish Rana was handed the responsibility to lead the franchise for the first time in his career. 


Kolkata Knight Riders began their IPL 2023 campaign against Punjab Kings on April 1. In this match, Punjab Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 runs (DLS method) to win the match.