Shreyas Iyer: How tryst with injuries provided the nasty twists in his career

It’s been a relief for cricket fans to hear from Shreyas Iyer himself for the first time six days after that freak injury on 25 October in Sydney, which suggests that the worst may be over. After a spate of varied media reports on the degree of seriousness of the injury, including a fake photo of the cricketer recuperating from an earlier shoulder surgery, he posted on social media on Thursday.

“I’m currently in recovery process and getting better, every passing day. I’m deeply grateful to see all the kind wishes and support I’ve received - it truly means a lot. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts,’’ he said. The conversation may have already begun on how long the middle order batter will be out of action, but what’s of immediate priority is that the strong-willed cricketer should regain full fitness first.

A recovery timeline has been set around two months for now, which means that the new ODI vice-captain is set to miss the upcoming three-match series against South Africa in November-December. It’s also uncertain if he would be available for next year’s bilateral ODI series against New Zealand in January but looking at the bigger picture, one cannot help but wonder about the 30-year-old’s prolonged tryst with injuries and how he battled past them.

From a reliable middle order batter who once looked the heir apparent for white-ball captaincy to Virat Kohli, not to speak of being a successor to Ajinkya Rahane as no. 5 in Tests, the road ahead for Shreyas has always been a chequered one. A troubled back, possible a legacy of the pain which first cropped up during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home, saw him excusing himself from red-ball assignments for six months only recently.

After all the hue and cry over him missing the bus for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, it comes as an anti-climax as Shreyas appeared to be in the right space to shoulder the middle order responsibility in the longer format.     

It was back in 2018 when a young Shreyas, thrust into the role of captain for Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) after Gautam Gambhir pulled out mid-season owing to lack of runs, started showing a natural leadership potential. The first injury blow came in March 2021 when he landed on his shoulder while fielding during a ODI against England in Pune.

The fallout: he was eventually ruled out of the entire season of IPL 2021 but with the tournament being postponed mid-season due to the second wave of Covid, he got fit by the second half, though the injury cost him his captaincy as the franchise persisted with Rishabh Pant. He went on to miss out on a place in India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad in the UAE.

Two years later in 2023, Shreyas was laid low by a back pain during the Ahmedabad Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and had to undergo a major surgery to get rid of the problem. This meant he had to miss the entire IPL 2023 (as captain of KKR) along with the World Test Championship. He returned for the Asia Cup and then played a big role in India’s road to the final of the 2023 World Cup with 530 runs.  

Just when Shreyas seemed to be in it for the long haul, the back problem returned in the early half of 2024 during the Test series against England. He played the initial two Test matches but complained about a back problem in the second game and did not take any further part in the series.

He opted out of a Ranji game after missing the England series and it resulted in a double whammy for him — he fell foul of the BCCI and lost his annual contract. The 2024-25 season, however, was one of redemption for Shreyas as he struck gold as captain – leading Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and KKR to the IPL 2024 title after 10 years.  

It’s difficult to judge if the history of a back problem had come in Shreyas’ way of winning his place back in the Test side — and BCCI’s lack of transparency over injury updates also hasn’t helped. However, Shreyas has not had any chance in whites for India since the 2024 home series against England and continues to be ignored from the T20 set-up.

Just when it looked like he may return to the Test arena when the selectors made him the captain of the India A side against Australia A, he announced a break from red-ball cricket due to his back issue. The spleen injury in Australia was a critical one, for which he underwent ‘interventional trans-catheter embolisation’ to stop severe internal bleeding and was moved out of the ICU only last Tuesday. A freak injury for which the healing process is well underway, but it’s only the doctors’ prerogative to say when he can make a comeback.  

There is no question of rushing things from any quarters — and till the man with the trademark swagger in his walk is ready, we will wait!