Shreyas Iyer Opens Up On ‘Painful’ Life-Threatening Spleen Injury

Shreyas Iyer reflected on his frightening spleen injury and detailed his recovery journey after making a successful return to competitive cricket.

India batter Shreyas Iyer recalled the terrifying injury he suffered during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last year, describing it as one of the most painful experiences of his career. The incident occurred when Iyer attempted a diving catch in the deep, completed the effort, but landed awkwardly and picked up a serious injury.

Soon after the fall, reports suggested that Iyer’s vital signs dropped alarmingly inside the Indian dressing room, forcing the team management to rush him to a hospital. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) later confirmed that the middle-order batter had suffered a spleen injury, which required an immediate medical procedure to stop internal bleeding.

After spending time under medical supervision in Sydney, Iyer returned to India and began his rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The 30-year-old recently made his competitive comeback in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this month, scoring an impressive fifty, before marking his return to the Indian team in a four-wicket win over New Zealand last Sunday.

Shreyas Iyer Opens Up On The Injury

Ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand in Rajkot, a fully fit Iyer spoke candidly about the ordeal and the seriousness of the injury.

“It was painful, excruciatingly painful. I didn’t realise how tough that injury was until I got to know that the spleen is an important part of our body and it’s an organ and I didn’t even know about the word,” Iyer said.

“Then the next day when I was admitted to the hospital, after that I realised, ‘Wow, okay, this was a severe injury.’ Yes, it was (spleen was learnt as a new word that day),” he added.

Iyer also admitted that the recovery phase tested his patience, something he usually struggles with due to his restless nature.

“This process, I felt that I had to give myself a little bit of time not to over-exert myself because I’m someone who can’t sit in one place. I want to keep doing one thing or another,” he said.

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“But this injury especially gave me time to reflect upon myself, rejuvenate and also relax as much as possible because it’s not that you can get up and start working out straight away. You need to give yourself a lot of time and I was told that within six to eight weeks, you will be back to normal and then you can start training. So I just followed the proper guidelines, which I was provided with and then after that it was a smooth sailing ride,” he added.

With fitness clearance from the BCCI and valuable game time behind him, Iyer is now set to play a key role for India as he looks to rebuild momentum following his return from a serious setback.