IND vs AUS: Shreyas Iyer's absence will impact us, says stand-in captain Hardik Pandya ahead of 1st ODI

India’s stand-in captain for the first ODI against Australia Hardik Pandya admits Shreyas Iyer’s absence will impact the team as theteam management needs to find solutions if the star batter remains out for long. Being in the same position some time back, Hardik knows how worrisome can this back pain be and revealed there is no timeline as to when Shreyas could be deemed fit for a return to the One-Day setup.

"Obviously, there is no timeline, but we have to hope for the best. I have been in that situation where the back could be a problem,” said Hardik Pandya as quoted by PTI.

Iyer had a blast batting at the number four position in ODIs last year, scoring 721 runs in 14 matches at an astonishing average of 60.08. Iyer was in good form heading into the World Cup; however, an untimely reoccurrence of the back issue derailed his run.

The star batter is now likely to remain on sidelines for some time and could even miss a few games for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2023 that starts on March 31st.

"It is going to impact, obviously we are going to miss him but we will have to slowly start finding solutions if he is not around (for a long time). If he is around he is more than welcome, but if he is not, then there is a lot of time to think about it and see how we can go forward," said Pandya.

As India prepare to take on Australia in the three-match ODIs after beating them for the fourth straight time in the Border-Gavaskar series, the team will be without the regular captain Rohit Sharma (just for the 1st One-Dayer), Jasprit Bumrah (who is out due to back injury) and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant (recovering from injuries he suffered in a road accident).

The first ODI begins at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Friday.