In what could be a huge blow to the hopes of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of Indian Premier League's next season (IPL 2024), captain Shreyas Iyer could miss the few initial games due to back injury. It is the same back injury because of which Iyer had missed the complee IPL 2023. Iyer recently played a knock of 95 runs in the Ranji Trophy final and a report in Times of India says that it is this knock which has led to the injury resurfacing. .
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Iyer had undergone a back surgery last year before making a comeback just before the World Cup. He played four months of international cricket before complaining of the back pain again. Confusion remained over why Iyer was not picked in the last 3 Tests squad. India coach Rahul Dravid had said that Iyer had missed out on the selection while the batsman has reportedly told BCCI he had back issues and that was the reason why he did not even play a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai.
Medical team of National Cricket Academy, reportedly, informed BCCI that there was no issue with Iyer. BCCI dropped him from the central contracts post which Iyer was seen playing the final of the Ranji Trophy.
Let's get started! _ pic.twitter.com/i2l0M9dP8x — KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) February 22, 2024
A BCCI source has been quoted as saying to Times of India that Iyer's injury is not looking good and is in danger of missing the first few games of IPL.
“It is not looking good. It is the same back injury which has got aggravated. It is unlikely that he will take the field on Day 5 of the Ranji Trophy final. He is in danger of missing the initial matches of the IPL,” said the BCCI source.
Not to forget, during his 95-run knock for Mumbai, Iyer took medical assistance twice as he was clearly uncomfortable. He did not take the field for Mumbai on Day 4 and likely to be missing on Day 5 as well due to the same injury.
KKR play their first match of IPL 2024 on March 23 and if Iyer does not reach full fitness in the next 8 days, he is likely to miss the team's opening game. If that happens, it will be interesting to see KKR's stance on this as if Iyer was not completely fit, then how did NCA clear him to play the Ranji final. That is the big question.