The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has provided a positive report about Shreyas Iyer’s health after the India ODI vice-captain fell injured in the last match against Australia in Sydney last week. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia affirmed that Iyer’s recovery is going better than expected, stating that the batter’s situation remains stable and that he has been transferred from the ICU.
Busting earlier media rumors, Saikia made it clear that Iyer had not been operated upon, as indicated by some reports, but was subject to a non-surgical medical intervention in an effort to stem internal bleeding.
The incident happened on Saturday at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) after Iyer forward-dived while making a difficult catch to get rid of Alex Carey. In the process, he received an impact on his left rib cage, which prompted emergency hospitalization.
Talking to The Times of India, Saikia praised Iyer’s excellent rehabilitation, stating that the 30-year-old has been healing ahead of schedule and is likely to return to competition earlier than the usual six-to-eight-week rehabilitation period.
“Shreyas is much, much, much better. His recovery has been much faster than what the doctor expected. I’m in regular touch with Dr Rizwan (Khan, Indian team doctor who stayed back with Iyer to assist with his treatment at the Sydney hospital). Normally, he should take six to eight weeks (to recover completely), but you can expect a surprise from him because he may recover much earlier,” Saikia said.
Earlier, there were reports by Cricbuzz that Iyer had undergone a splenic surgery, but those claims were denied by BCCI officials. A source close to the matter revealed to the newspaper that the procedure done was aimed to prevent internal bleeding, not a surgical process.