India batter Shreyas Iyer is set to spend more time on the sidelines as he continues to recover from the blunt-force abdominal injury that he sustained during the third ODI against Australia. The 30-year-old had landed awkwardly while completing a catch and was taken off the field soon after by the physios.
Shreyas was admitted to the ICU
At first it was suspected to be a routine injury, but things got serious when Shreyas was admitted to the ICU due to internal bleeding. Later, BCCI had reported that the injury had caused a laceration to his spleen. Though Shreyas was soon discharged from the hospital, it had become clear that he will be out of contention for some time. Ever since returning home, he has been going through the cautious rehabilitation process.
Sports Tak has learned that Shreyas recently underwent an ultrasonography (USG) scan near his residence earlier this week, with the images reviewed by Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala. Though the latest scans have brought positive updates, Iyer has been strictly advised to avoid that increases intra-abdominal pressure for the next 1 month. He will also have to undergo another USG scan at the two-month mark.
Shreyas yet to begin rehab at the CoE
It will be only after the results of the next scan come out that Shreyas will be allowed to begin rehabilitation at BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. Given the cautious rehab process, it is likely that the batter will have to spend the next 2-3 months on the sidelines and this will see him miss multiple international assignments, including the ODI series against South Africa and New Zealand.
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This comes as a big setback for Iyer, who had recently been appointed as India's vice-captain in ODIs and had cemented his place in the set-up once again thanks to some brilliant performances. It looked like the 30-year-old will be a key player for the Men in Blue in the upcoming ODI assignments, but he will now instead be focusing on his rehab process.