Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the Indian cricket team’s ongoing ODI series against England, with scans reportedly confirming a subluxation - partial dislocation - in the series opener in Pune on Tuesday, March 23.
The incident took place during the eighth over of England’s run chase, when Iyer dived at extra cover to prevent a Jonny Bairstow boundary off Shardul Thakur’s over. He did not play any further part, with Shubman Gill coming on to replace him.
After being taken in for observations, sources speaking to ANI have stated that results call for the middle-order batsman to undergo surgery.
"The preliminary view is that he requires surgery but further opinion has been sought from an expert in this regard and if the surgery takes place, which seems likely, he would miss the entire IPL season," the source explained.
Prior to Shreyas Iyer, opener Rohit Sharma got a knock on the elbow from a Mark Wood delivery in the fourth over of the first innings. He was ruled out for the rest of the game but his availability for the second ODI is yet to be confirmed.
UPDATE - Shreyas Iyer subluxated his left shoulder in the 8th over while fielding. He has been taken for further scans and won't take any further part in the game.
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 23, 2021
Rohit Sharma was hit on the right elbow while batting and felt some pain later. He won't take the field.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/s8KINKvCl4
The extent of Iyer’s injury is yet to be disclosed but it is reported that he will miss the first half of the 2021 Indian T20 League campaign. With the Mumbai-born batsman out of the series, India are likely to hand an ODI debut to his compatriot Suryakumar Yadav, or play it safe by including wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant in his stead.
Apart from the injuries in the home camp, it is reported that stand-in England ODI captain Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings might sit out of the upcoming fixture at Pune. While Billings hurt his collarbone when diving at the boundary, Morgan Morgan split a webbing in his right hand while stopping a crisp cover-drive from Hardik Pandya.
Though the English duo came out to bat in the second innings, the news of their availability for the 2nd ODI is yet to be confirmed by the visitors.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / BCCI
