“You are actually making a position for KL Rahul” - Harbhajan Singh reflects on Shreyas Iyer’s fitness woes

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons that Shreyas Iyer’s persistent injury problems heading into the World Cup will allow KL Rahul a bigger opportunity to stake his claim in the ODI playing XI.

Shreyas, who had been out of action over the past few months owing to a back injury, made a comeback during India’s opening Asia Cup 2023 match against Pakistan in Pallekele on September 2. However, he was ruled out of India’s Super 4 match against Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday after suffering back spasms.

Rahul, who is also making a comeback from a thigh injury, replaced Shreyas in the playing XI for the game against Pakistan. During an interaction on Sports Today, Harbhajan opined that Shreyas’ constant struggles with injury will make life easier for Rahul.

“Injuries are part and parcel of the game. But getting injured that often, it’s either your bad luck or you are actually making a position for KL Rahul. I think getting injured at this point of time will put lot of things correct for KL Rahul. Obviously, nobody wants to get injured, but this opportunity with open a big door for someone like KL Rahul. What Rahul will bring to the table is stability to the batting line-up,” Harbhajan said.

The 43-year-old added that players getting injured frequently is a worry and sought answers from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

“It’s something to do with the kind of training that they do or with the kind of effort that they put in. That is the question that the NCA needs to answer because that’s where everyone goes and train themselves and get ready for the games,” he added.

Shreyas was dismissed for 14 off 9 balls in his comeback match. He was out to the short ball again, attempting a pull off Haris Rauf.

---

“It’s a worry definitely” - Sunil Gavaskar on Shreyas Iyer’s latest fitness setback

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar also admitted that Shreyas’ frequent breakdowns are a cause for concern, particularly with the World Cup less than a month away.

He, however, added that his injury shouldn’t be a huge problem, since teams can make changes to their World Cup squad till September 28.

“It’s a worry definitely. If a player is out injured for five-six months with an injury and then he has a similar injury now, with less than a month left for the World Cup to start, yes, it’s an area of concern. Luckily, you can make changes in your team till the 28th of September, a week before the World Cup takes off," Gavaskar told Sports Today.

“In case he is not fit and he doesn’t recover, there will be somebody who will replace him. It’s sad because while he was batting against Pakistan, he looked in good touch. He played a lovely cover drive. He had even played that hook shot well, but sadly for him, he found the fielder,” he added.

Shreyas has an impressive ODI record, having scored 1645 runs in 44 matches at an average of 45.69, with two hundreds and 14 fifties.