Chennai, Aug 27: On his return to the Indian cricket team ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup, right-handed batter Shreyas Iyer recalled the phase of his back injury, saying that it was “horrendous” and “was in excruciating pain”.
Iyer was pulled out mid-way from India’s fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at Ahmedabad in March this year after suffering a recurrence of a lower back injury.
That injury had earlier ruled Iyer out of the white-ball series against New Zealand at home as well as the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Nagpur.
“Feeling ecstatic to be honest, to join the team and see happy faces all around. The compassion shown by all the players was fantastic, and I am thrilled to be back. To be precise, I had this nerve compression, basically, a slip disc, which was compressing the nerve and the pain was going all the way down to the bottom of my tiny toe.”
“It was horrendous and to be honest, then, I was in excruciating pain. I wasn’t able to express myself properly about what I was going through. But this was the feeling that I was having at that point in time and was hard to communicate to everyone. I had this issue for a while, but I was taking injections and going through various routes to see to it that I am steady and playing many more matches,” said Iyer in a video posted on bcci.tv.
Ruled out of IPL 2023, the Kolkata Knight Riders star then underwent a lower-back surgery in May in the United Kingdom.
“But it reached a saturation point where I realised that, ‘okay, now I have to get surgery’. The physios and the experts told me that it is important that you go under the knife and get this done straight. After the injury, I went back home. I was hospitalized for two days and then I got back home. I gave myself rest for like, almost ten days,” said Iyer.
“In that period, one of the doctors had come to check my toe strength. He said that you can manage, but at the same time, the surgery will also be required. So I thought the best decision would be to get the surgery done because I have long years ahead to play and I am truly happy with my decision,” he added.
Recalling the post-surgery phase, Iyer said, “After the surgery, the surgeon also said that it was a great decision that you decided to go for the surgery. Post the surgery, I was in London for three weeks because the doctor had to check my progress over a period of time. After three weeks, he was happy and he asked me to come back.”
Iyer then reported to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for rehab and recovery from the back surgery.
With the ordeal now over, Iyer is practising with the Indian team in a six-day camp before flying to Colombo for the Asia Cup. His return also means the crucial number four slot will be occupied by him, a position where he averages 47.35 at a strike rate of 94.37, giving the Indian team huge relief. (IANS)
