Indian star batter Shreyas Iyer recently revealed that when a back injury derailed his international career, he was paralysed in one leg, adding that this kept him away from all forms of cricket for a while, reported News18.
Iyer cited that this lengthy absence and eventual breaks led to a drop from the central contract.
Despite 2025 having brought incredible highs, Iyer was confined to an English hospital bed two years ago and struggled through a lot of pain.
Over the years, Iyer’s back injury had worsened he managed through a series of cortisol injections and painkillers with the wear and tear on his spine and hip.
“No one can understand the pain I went through. I was totally paralysed in one leg. With spine surgery, you can place a rod in the back and still manage. But a snapped nerve, which is what I had, is really, really dangerous,” News18 quoted Iyer as saying while speaking to GQ India.
“The pain was horrendous, running all the way down to my tiny toe. It was so scary,” Iyer added.
On being dropped from BCCI’s central contract list:
Iyer mentioned that though the surgery was successful, he needed a year to fully recover and that was the time when he was dropped from BCCI’s central contract list.
“People see athletes as robots who have to perform in every game. They do not know what is happening behind the scenes,” Iyer said.
Since August this year, Iyer has been in the news following BCCI dropped from the Asia Cup squad. Fans called this injustice to him given his performance in the domestic circuit as well as in IPL 2025.
“I can only control the controllable. I can only keep working on my skills and strength and when the opportunity arises, I will grab it with both hands,” Iyer said.