Shreyas Iyer to miss first-half of IPL 2023 with back injury: Reports

Indian batter and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer will reportedly miss the first half of the upcoming IPL season as his back injury seems a lot more serious than the previous one.

According to the reports from TOI, Iyer won't be able to make a comeback to competitive cricket in the ODI series against Australia and will also miss the entire first month of IPL 2023.

Here's what a source told TOI:

"He's definitely out of the IPL till April-end."

This is a huge blow for KKR as they arguably don't have a quality backup for their captain. It will be interesting to see the captaincy options that they look at for the period when Shreyas Iyer is unavailable.

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Shreyas Iyer doesn't seem to be doing that well: Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma also expressed his concern for Shreyas Iyer's suspected back injury. He explained to the press that Iyer complained of pain in his back and accepted that from what he has heard, the scans aren't quite encouraging.

Rohit stated:

"Poor guy. It just was such an unfortunate incident. He had to wait all day (second 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. I don't know the exact report of the scans, but he does not seem to be doing that well."

Iyer's ability to score quickly in Tests has really made him an important part of the Indian team in the longest format. With the World Test Championship (WTC) final set to be played in June, it will be interesting to see how India brings him back into action once he recovers from his injury.

However, if Iyer decides to opt for surgery after consulting with the specialist, getting fit in time for the WTC final could be really tough.