MUMBAI: India batter Shreyas Iyer, who was ruled out of the ongoing ODI series between India and Australia due to a recurring lower back injury, is likely to be out of action for the next 4-5 months as he is likely to undergo a back surgery, TOI has learnt.
Iyer could thus miss not just the upcoming edition of the IPL, where he leads the Kolkata Knight Riders, but also the World Test Championship final at the Oval in June. He could thus be in a race to return to action in time for the ODI World Cup in India in October-November.
With IPL-2023 set to start from March 31, KKR could thus be forced to name a new captain in the next few days.
"Iyer has been advised to go for surgery. He is keen to get operated by a specialist in London, but if there is a decent option in India, then the surgery could take place here also," the source revealed.
After he was forced to pull out of the fourth Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad recently due to the recurrence of the injury, India skipper Rohit Sharma had said that Iyer's scans "didn't look good."
The middle-order batsman had consulted doctor Abhay Nene, who treats spine complications, and is an expert with Bombay and Lilavati hospitals in Mumbai. It is believed that Iyer is trying ayurvedic treatment for his injured back too.
Iyer had missed the white ball series against New Zealand in January because of the lower back injury.
The Mumbai batsman had missed a fair bit of cricket, including the T20 World Cup in 2021, due to a shoulder injury.
