Team India completed their successful Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a massive 10-wicket win in the final against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Sunday, September 17. While the Men in Blue ticked several boxes in the tournament, going into the Australia series and then the World Cup, a couple of injury concerns still remain and captain Rohit Sharma addressed both of them in the post-match press conference.
While Shreyas Iyer has been nursing his back spasm having not played since the Nepal clash, all-rounder Axar Patel sustained a side strain during the Super Four match against Bangladesh. Rohit was hopeful was Iyer returning pretty soon but didn't have the same news on Axar.
Speaking at the press conference, Rohit confirmed that Axar is likely to miss a couple of games in the ODI series against Australia. "Axar had a small tear. It looks like maybe it will take a week or 10 days (to heal), I don’t know. We have to see how that injury progresses. Some guys recover quickly, and I hope that’s the case with him," skipper Rohit didn't seem too confident about the speed of recovery for the Gujarat all-rounder," Rohit said.
"I am not sure whether he will be able to play the first two games against Australia at home. But we will wait and see," Rohit further added while not making a full commitment regarding Patel's availability.
On Shreyas Iyer, Rohit was confident that he will be available. "Shreyas was not available for this game because certain parameters were kept for him to tick off. I think today, he completed most of it. I should say he is alright 99 percent as of now. But he looks good, he batted and fielded for long hours, and he was on the ground long before we came to the ground. I don't think it is a worry for us," he added.
Shreyas Iyer played just two games after his return from injury following a six-month-long layoff. However, it seems like he is on his way to return to the side in the upcoming series against Australia starting September 22 in Mohali.
