Shreyas Iyer out of IPL 2023, WTC final; KKR captain to undergo back surgery

Add as a preferred source on Google

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the IPL 2023 and the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final. The 28-year-old is set to undergo surgery for his back injury.

The right-hand batter, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo is reportedly set to travel aborad for the surgery and will be out of action for at least three months.

KKR appointed Nitish Rana as the captain of KKR in the absence of Iyer but in their official statement had hinted that the right-hander might return towards the business end of the tournament.

Iyer was part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 and featured in the second, third and the fourth Test. He missed the first Test because of the same back injury. Later, during the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, his back injury resurfaced and he could not come out to bat for the Rohit Sharma-led team.

The news comes across as a major blow for KKR who lost their first match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) by seven runs (DLS method). In the absence of Iyer, KKR were reduced to 138/7 while chasing 192.

With Iyer out of the WTC final versus Australia from June 7 at The Oval in London, India will now have to find a replacement for the star batter in the middle-order.