Ishan Kishan suffered a back scare during India’s practice session ahead of the Afghanistan T20Is
Shreyas Iyer called it a minor niggle and said Kishan is expected to be fit for the opener
Iyer also admitted Kishan had been fatigued after his recent run of continuous cricket
India captain Shreyas Iyer has provided an update on Ishan Kishan after the wicketkeeper-batter suffered a back scare during the team’s first full-fledged training session ahead of the Afghanistan T20Is in New Delhi.
Iyer said Kishan is “comfortable at the moment” and is expected to be fit for India’s first T20I against Afghanistan on Sunday, during the pre-match press conference.
India’s preparations were briefly rocked by an injury scare on Friday, September 11, when Kishan appeared to strain his back during a practice session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The wicketkeeper-batter had only recently joined the Indian camp after leading East Zone to the Duleep Trophy title.
Kishan had started his net session alongside Iyer and went all guns blazing against the spinners before switching to the pacers’ net after around an hour. He was facing Navdeep Saini, who was assisting the Indian team as a net bowler, when the pacer bowled a short delivery that climbed sharply towards him.
Kishan attempted to evade the bouncer by bending backwards but appeared to hurt his back in the process. The physio and support staff immediately rushed in to check on him as he looked visibly uncomfortable.
Iyer, however, played down the concerns surrounding the wicketkeeper-batter and revealed that he had spoken to Kishan after the practice session.
“Ishan, I feel that he’s comfortable at the moment. I interacted with him after the practice session. It was just a small niggle, and he’s been playing continuous cricket.”
The scare came after Kishan had already been involved in a demanding run of cricket. He recently led East Zone to the Duleep Trophy title, scoring 350 runs in the tournament, and Iyer acknowledged that the workload had left him fatigued.
“We all know the knock he played, so definitely a bit fatigued, but today he got that rest, and I’m sure that he will be fine for tomorrow,” Iyer added.
Kishan’s availability will come as a relief for India, with the wicketkeeper-batter expected to play an important role in the T20I series against Afghanistan.
India will face Afghanistan in the first T20I on Sunday, September 13, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
