Shreyas Iyer ruled out of England ODIs; could be sidelined for few IPL matches

India batsman Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the remainder of the One-Day International (ODI) series against England after injuring his shoulder while fielding in the first match of the series. According to ESPNCricinfo, Shreyas is believed to have dislocated his shoulder and as a result and will miss the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, where he leads Delhi Capitals (DC). 

Shreyas walked off the field in the eighth over of England’s chase where he is believed to have dislocated his shoulder. It is believed that he will take several weeks to heal, which has put his participation in the initial stages of the IPL in serious jeopardy.

In his absence, India are likely to field Suryakumar Yadav in the middle-order. However, they also have the option of giving Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant a go. Pant will most likely lead DC in Shreyas' absence.

This is Shreyas’s second shoulder in less than a year, having previously injured it during the limited-overs series against Australia. 

DC reached the final for the first time in 2020 under Shreyas’ leadership. He slammed 519 runs at 36.40 to go with a strike-rate of 123.27 in 17 innings that season. The flamboyant middle-order batsman also recently signed for Lancashire to take part in the Royal One-Day Cup.

Ahead of the white-ball series against England, Shreyas led Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in which he scored a couple of centuries in four matches, before handing over the reins to Prithvi Shaw, who went on to lead the team to the title.