Rohit Sharma’s colossal World Cup revelation on Shreyas Iyer’s fitness rings warning bell for Suryakumar Yadav
India’s tryst with injuries has cost them crucial matches across the last 12 months, including the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup in 2022 and the WTC final last June. With the team building towards the Asia Cup, starting end of this month, concerns remain over the return of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer with Jasprit Bumrah slated for a comeback in the Ireland T20I series that precedes it. Ahead of the squad announcement for the continental tournament, India captain Rohit Sharma provided a massive update on Iyer which in turn put Suryakumar Yadav’s position at risk.
Rohit Sharma provides massive update on Shreyas Iyer amid Asia Cup fitness concerns
While it was expected that Iyer and Rahul will be back for the Asia Cup after BCCI revealed that “they have resumed batting in the nets and are currently undergoing strength and fitness drills” in their medical update over a fortnight back, Cricbuzz reported last week that the batting duo are unlikely to be picked in the squad, which is expected to be announced soon.
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However, Rohit’s recent update on Iyer confirmed what the report had claimed on their possibility for World Cup selection. During an event in the USA on Sunday, which was shown live on Instagram, the India skipper was asked about Iyer’s fitness and Rohit gave a positive update about it while also admitting that he is hoping the batter recovers in time for the World Cup.
“Shreyas Iyer is on the track to full fitness, so fingers crossed for World Cup,” he said.
Warning bell for Suryakumar Yadav
When Iyer was sidelined with injury concerns earlier this year, India looked at it as the perfect opportunity to reap the benefits of Suryakumar’s T20I form in the ODI format. The India batter had recently risen to the top of the ICC rankings in T20I batting following a thundering 2022 season. It also served as a golden chance for Suryakumar himself to stake his claim as India’s No.4 for the ODI World Cup.
However, the 32-year-old failed to emulate his T20I batting in the 50-over format, scoring just 127 runs in nine innings without a single half-century and with a hat-trick of ducks. Across the six matches against New Zealand and Australia before IPL, he managed only 45 runs. With Iyer’s return date still in hold and Suryakumar bouncing back from that horror streak of three ducks to scoring impressive knocks in IPL, India stuck with the plan in the West Indies tour, but the batter only managed 78 runs in three innings.
With Iyer reportedly out of Asia Cup, India might be stuck with Suryakumar for one last time, giving him a final opportunity to prove his worth before proceedings shift towards the ODI World Cup.
