Asia Cup: Shreyas Iyer sweats it out in Indian cricket team nets, but return uncertain | Cricket News

After missing the last two games of the Asia Cup, against Pakan and Sri Lanka, due to back spasms, middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer attended the optional training session at the R Premadasa Stadium on Thursday.
Iyer, who had returned to the squad after undergoing a surgery on his back in April, started the sessions with a few rounds of jogging, followed short sprints, all overseen trainer S Rajnikanth who had helped him during his rehabilitation. Ahead of the Asia Cup, India’s team management had brought in Rajnikanth – based at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru – to facilitate the comebacks of Iyer, Rahul and Jasprit Burmah into the national fold, where their workloads are being managed separately.
Once Iyer completed the warm-ups, Rajnikanth and video analyst Hari Prasad Mohan gave him under-arm throw-downs for about 20 minutes, where Iyer just patted the deliveries. With him showing no sign of discomfort, the support staff then directed him to bat in the nets, where he faced net bowlers for about half-an-hour in gruelling heat.

Although Ishan Kishan has been filling in the middle-order in his absence, Iyer’s comfort when training would have been a breather for India. With this being an optional net session, apart from Iyer, only Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma had turned up. But all eyes, including that of the support staff, were trained on the former.
Ringing in changes
With this being an inconsequential fixture—India have sealed the final and Bangladesh have crashed out—there is a possibility that India could ring in changes especially after playing back-to-back matches against Pakan and Sri Lanka. It is the ideal time to give some of them the much-needed game time before the World Cup, besides keeping some others fresh for the final.
It would be ideal if Iyer returns—it is understood that he is recovering well—though it is uncertain whether he would be able to take the field on Friday. He will be assessed again on the morning of the game.
However, in case he faces any further setback and isn’t fit before the three-match ODI series against Australia that begins on September 22, then the chance of him making the World Cup squad looks bleak. It is understood that the team is keeping Varma as an option and though Yadav is in the squad as a cover for the middle-order slot, the left-hander will be a preferred option as he can bowl handy off-spin.
Throughout this tour, after finishing his batting session, Varma has been spending a lot of time bowling to other batsmen in the nets. Often, Jadeja, who has been assing the youngster with the grip and release points, would oversee. Whether India play him ahead of Yadav on Friday isn’t clear, but given the injury concerns with Iyer, they might be tempted to see where Varma too stands with his game.
Break for Tilak?
“There is an opportunity (for Tilak to play), we haven’t decided the team yet. Rahul and Rohit will decide it. But definitely the player is ready and many others are also match ready,” India’s bowling coach Paras Chambray said.Most Read
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Having worked with Varma during the 2020 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, Mhambrey believed there is a scope for India to use his bowling skills. “We were in South Africa and we realised he has that bowling skill. We are working on it consently so we can use it. If the captain gets the confidence that he can bowl one over in the match and deliver, this one over can turn into two overs,” he said.

That would be a valuable option, as most of India’s special batsmen do not bowl. “It depends on circumstances where we need that extra bowler. There can be a situation when we need a spinner especially when the lefties are batting then an off-spinner can be used. If we talk about him playing then yes opportunity is there for him to play,” he said.
As far as the bowling unit goes, India are once again set to employ a horses for courses policy depending on the conditions.