Injured Shreyas ruled out of England ODIs; likely to miss 1st half of IPL too

Pune:India batsman Shreyas Iyer, who suffered a shoulder injury during the first ODI against England, was on Wednesday ruled out of the remaining two ODIs and also in serious doubt for the first half of the IPL 2021.

The 26-year-old Iyer fell on his left shoulder while fielding in the eighth over bowled by Shardul Thakur in the first ODI against England in Pune on Tuesday. He looked in tremendous pain and was taken for further scans, being ruled out of the game last night.

'Shreyas Iyer subluxated his left shoulder in the 8th over while fielding. He has been taken for further scans and won't take any further part in the game,' the BCCI had tweeted on Tuesday.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Iyer, who captains Delhi Capitals is set to miss the first half of the IPL 2021, starting April 9.Delhi Capitals will feel the pain of Iyer's injury considering he is not only their leader but also a key batsman in the top order.

Iyer had a prolific IPL season in 2020 and led the Capitals to the final, in which they lost to the Mumbai Indians. The batsman was the fourth-highest run-scorer then, and second-highest for the Capitals, with a tally of 519 runs behind KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.

In Iyer's absence, the candidates for captaincy in DC include the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and R Ashwin.

DC will also be wary of the injury to Sam Billings in the same game, after he suffered a sprained collarbone with more details of the injury awaited.(UNI)