[Pictures] Shreyas Iyer sweats it out in the gym as he begins rehab after being ruled out of the WTC final

Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has begun his rehabilitation after being ruled out of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be played between India and Australia at the Oval in London starting June 7.

In a couple of posts shared as Instagram stories on Thursday, May 25, Iyer could be seen sweating it out in the gym at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

Watch the pictures below:

Shreyas Iyer sweating it out in the gym (Left & right).

For the unversed, Iyer underwent a successful surgery in London last month to recover from his recurring lower-back injury, which first troubled him after the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour. The right-handed batter missed the ODI series against New Zealand at home and the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The 28-year-old then didn’t come out to bat in the fourth Test after his comeback for the remaining three Tests. He also missed the ODI series against Australia and the entire IPL 2023 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

There is no definite timeline for Iyer’s comeback. He will be under the supervision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team and NCA heading into the 2023 Asia Cup and ODI World Cup later this year.

BCCI’s latest update on Iyer, released on April 15:

“Shreyas Iyer is scheduled to undergo surgery for his lower back issue next week. He will remain under the surgeon’s care for two weeks and will return to the NCA after that for rehabilitation.”

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Ajinkya Rahane replaced Shreyas Iyer for the WTC final

Senior batter Ajinkya Rahane has replaced Shreyas Iyer in the Team India squad for the WTC final. He is expected to boost the middle order as Team India aim to win the WTC in their second attempt, having lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in 2021 under Virat Kohli’s captaincy.

India’s squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).

Standby players: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.