IND vs AUS ODI Series: Shreyas Iyer officially ruled out of 50-over format, confirms fielding coach T Dilip

India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the three-game ODI series against Australia. Iyer missed a major portion of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Ahmedabad after a recurrence of his back injury. The Mumbai batter is now all set to miss the ODI series against Australia. The injury forced Iyer to sit out of the first innings of the final Test, where India posted a solid 571 on the back of tons from Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli.

The news of Iyer’s unavailability for the limited overs series was confirmed by India’s fielding coach, T. Dilip at the pre-series Press conference.

“Injuries are a part and parcel of the game. We have the best medical facilities and they are well-equipped, and our medical team and NCA medical team are in coordination. Regarding Shreyas, he’s been ruled out of this series. And further updates, we’ll let you know as and when we know it,” said Dilip in a press conference.

Earlier this year, the 28-year-old complained of a similar injury after the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Subsequently, he was ruled out of India’s ODI series against New Zealand. He was then sent to the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore as a precaution, before being cleared for the team’s preparatory camp for the current Test series. The India-Australia ODI series starts on March 17 in Mumbai. The hosts will also be without their regular captain Rohit Sharma for the first game but he is set to return for the last two games. In his absence, Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the first ODI at the Wankhede Stadium.

Australia will eye revenge on hosts having lost the Test series 2-1 and will have to do without their regular skipper Pat Cummins. The veteran star is in Australia having lost his mother last week with Steve Smith taking charge of the side in his absence. It is worth noting that India have not won an ODI match at the Wankhede Stadium since October 2011 and will have the golden opportunity to end that drought.