Asia Cup 2023: Shreyas Iyer missed out on the match against Pakistan after he hurt his back before toss

India's Shreyas Iyer ruled out of high-profile match vs Pakistan due to back spasm. Injury resurfaced during Border-Gavaskar Trophy, underwent surgery. After 7-month layoff, surprised with speedy recovery. Injury poses serious challenge to batter & team.

Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of India’s high-profile clash versus Pakistan after hurting his back minutes before the toss on Sunday afternoon.

“Shreyas Iyer had a back spasm during warm-up today,” stated an official team spokesperson after the team sheet saw K.L. Rahul included in Shreyas’ place at the last minute.

It is understood that Shreyas hurt his back soon after the team huddle. Rahul was seen accompanying Shreyas who struggled to walk on the way back to the dressing room.

Shreyas’s back injury poses a serious challenge to the batter and the team. After all, the prime choice for the No. 4 slot for the World Cup returned to competitive cricket only last week after a seven-month layoff owing to a back injury.

Shreyas had been managing his sore back for the better part of the last 18 months. After the injury resurfaced during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier in the year, the batter underwent surgery.

After being selected in India’s squad for the Asia Cup, the Mumbai batter had told BCCI’s official website he was surprised with his speedy recovery.