Shreyas Iyer might miss entire IPL 2021 after sustaining injury in 1st ODI vs England

After having subluxated his left shoulder during the first ODI against England, a cloud of uncertainty looms over Shreyas Iyer's availability for the IPL 2021 which just two weeks away. Iyer, who leads the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, has been ruled out of the remaining two ODIs against England and is also expected to miss the first half of the IPL 2021, if not the full season. As per ANI sources, the injury on his left shoulder might force him to undergo surgery keeping him out of the IPL for an entire season. 

"The preliminary view is that he (Shreyas Iyer) requires surgery but further opinion has been sought from an expert in this regard and if the surgery takes place, which seems likely, he would miss the entire IPL season," ANI quoted a source in the know of the developments. 

During the first ODI against England on Tuesday, Iyer had dived to his left to cut short some runs in the second innings. While he did manage to stop the boundary, he was seen in agony as he walked off the field. Shubman Gill had then replaced him as a substitute. Commenting upon Iyer's injury, the BCCI had said that he has subluxated his left shoulder and has been taken for further scans.

If Shreyas Iyer does miss out on the IPL 2021, Delhi Capitals could hand the captaincy to either Ravichandran Ashwin or Ajinkya Rahane - with both of them having assumed the duties for other franchises in the IPL. However, new-recruit Steven Smith will also be in the fray after he was sacked and let go by Rajasthan Royals. 

Apart from Iyer, Team India's swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma also suffered from a bloody injury on his elbow as he struck with speedy delivery from Mark Wood. Throwing light on Sharma's injury, the BCCI said that he experienced some pain and added that he won't be taking the field. 

After Tests & T20s, India take lead in ODIs

Chasing a stiff target of 318, England were off to a flying start as Jason Roy (46), and Jonny Bairstow (94) stitched a 135-run opening stand and at one stage, it appeared that England would easily chase this down. Once Roy and pinch-hitter Ben Stokes were dismissed, Bairstow tried his best to single-handedly take the game away from India before he fell six runs short of what would have been his 11th ODI century. 

The Indian bowlers then staged a remarkable comeback thereafter as the visitors suffered a middle-order collapse and even though all-rounder Moeen Ali waged a lone battle, it just was not enough as the reigning ODI world champions were bundled out for 251 in the 43rd over as the Men In Blue took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Shikhar Dhawan was adjudged the Man of the Match for his outstanding knock of 98.