Shreyas Iyer meets Ben Chilwell at Stamford Bridge, gets presented with Chelsea jersey

Star India cricketer Shreyas Iyer has been off the field since March 2023 due to a recurring back injury. The 28-year-old was recently spotted with footballer Ben Chilwell who was seen presenting a Chelsea jersey to the stylish batsman with Shreyas' name printed on the back.

Iyer had made a visit to Chelsea’s home ground ‘Stamford Bridge’ on Wednesday, April 26 where he met the star footballer. The football club will also release an episode featuring the cricketer titled ‘Blues in India’ which will go live on Saturday, April 29.

Chelsea football club shared the photograph of the duo on their official Instagram handle and captioned the post, ‘Cricketer @ShreyasIyer96 caught up with @BenChilwell at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Keep your eyes peeled for Shreyas’ ep of Blues in India going live tomorrow!’

Meanwhile, Iyer was ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2023 due to his recurring back injury. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) shared an update on his fitness earlier this month and stated that the cricketer will be undergoing a back surgery in the last week of April and will remain under the surgeon’s care for two weeks before returning to the NCA for rehabilitation.

According to a report by Times of India, the cricketer underwent a successful back surgery in London on April 18 and is expected to be fit for the ODI World Cup 2023 scheduled to take place in India in October-November. However, Iyer will miss the World Test Championship 2023 Final scheduled to take place at The Oval in London from June 7.

Ajinkya Rahane back in whites after finding spot in WTC Final squad 

The BCCI announced the squad for the summit clash against Australia on Tuesday, April 25 and recalled veteran Ajinkya Rahane on account of his ongoing form. Rahane has been in sensational form off late in IPL 2023 as he’s scored 224 runs in six innings at an average of 44.80 and a strike rate of 189.83 with two fifties to his name.

Earlier, he also finished as the highest run-scorer for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 with 634 runs from 11 innings at an average of 57.63, with two centuries and one fifty to his name. Rahane’s selection has been lauded by several former cricketers who’ve called him the ideal replacement for Iyer.