‘Rare things happen with rare talent’: Suryakumar Yadav on Shreyas Iyer’s road to recovery

CANBERRA(Australia): Ahead of the T20I series against Australia starting from Wednesday, India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav shared an encouraging update on Shreyas Iyer’s condition, saying that the right-hand batter is “recovering really well” after his freak injury in Sydney. He added, “rare things happen with rare talent.”

Iyer dismissed Alex Carey on a Harshit Rana delivery in the third ODI with an amazing diving catch while sprinting from backward point. But when he dived, he landed awkwardly on his ribs and elbows.

After taking the catch, he was in extreme pain, clutching his ribs as he was taken back to the pavilion by the medical staff.

Addressing a pre-match press conference, Suryakumar Yadav said, “We spoke to him on the first day when we got to know that he had an injury. I called him first. Then I found out he didn’t have a phone. Then I called my physio, Kamlesh. He told me that he is stable. On the first day, I don’t know how, but he was looking good. We have been talking for two days now. He has been replying. If he is replying on the phone, it means he is stable. It is looking good. He is talking and everything is normal. Shreyas said that he will take care of himself for a few more days. He has been replying and talking to everyone, so it is good.”

“We are not doctors. When we saw him from outside, we thought he was normal. But none of us were there. Only those who were there could tell us. They told us that after going inside, we felt that we have to take care of him. He was rushed to the specialist. They told us what had happened. After that, when we talked to him, he started talking normally. We felt that he is fine now because doctors and physios told us that whatever happened was unfortunate. This has never happened. It is very rare, but Shreyas is also rare. Rare things happen with rare talent. But it’s okay. God has supported him. He is recovering really well. Doctors are supporting him. BCCI have shown full support. He will recover soon, and we will take him home with us,” he added.

During the ODI series in Australia, Shreyas scored 72 runs in two games, including a valiant 77-ball 61 in the second Adelaide ODI, during which he stitched a century stand with Rohit Sharma.

Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy sustained a left quadriceps injury during the two-wicket defeat in the second ODI, which subsequently ruled him out of the third and final fixture against Australia.

Providing an update on the player’s fitness, the captain said, “He is doing fine. Yesterday, Ntish did some running, batting in the nets. Today, he wanted to take a break as it was an optional practice, but he came to the ground because we had a team meeting, and he wanted to stay with the group because it’s a T20 new team. He looks good.”

The 22-year-old failed to make an impact during the must-win second ODI for India, garnering eight runs off 10 deliveries and returning wicketless after his three-over spell while conceding 24 runs at an economy of 8.00.

The management passed down the captaincy mantle to Suryakumar after Rohit Sharma hung up his boots in the T20Is following the conclusion of India’s unbeaten T20 World Cup-winning campaign last year. With the captaincy responsibilities on his shoulders, the 34-year-old has played 22 matches, scoring 330 runs at an average of 18.33 while striking at 142.85.

Runs continued to elude Suryakumar’s bat even during India’s unbeaten run to the Asia Cup title last month. In six innings, the crafty swashbuckler churned out 72 runs at an underwhelming average of 18.00 while maintaining a strike rate of barely above 100.

India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar. (ANI)