Venkatesh Iyer suffered a neck injury during the current Duleep Trophy semi-final between the West Zone and the Central Zone after being struck by a toss from the bowler Chintan Gaja. Iyer had just arrived at the crease and was batting on 6, as Central Zone had just experienced a top-order batting collapse. After the mishap, the all-rounder was seen in discomfort, and the ambulance had to arrive to get him out of the ground.
But instead of using the stretcher, the man chose to go on foot. It was indeed a difficult incident for the supporters at the SNR Cricket College Ground in Coimbatore to stomach that Iyer had to retire hurt. After losing half of the team for just 66 runs on the board, Central Zone sorely needed Iyer to continue at the crease. It was up to Iyer and captain Karan Sharma to get the team out of difficulty. The good news is that Iyer returned to the field to bat following the loss of the seventh wicket and is now batting with team skipper Karan Sharma. The majority of the damage was done earlier in the day by Jaydev Unadkat, who took three wickets for just 24 runs, and Atit Seth, who took two wickets for the West Zone.
The unpleasant scene here. Venkatesh Iyer has been hit on the shoulder as Gaja throws the ball defended ball back at the batter. Venkatesh is down on the ground in pain and the ambulance arrives. #DuleepTrophy pic.twitter.com/TCvWbdgXFp
— Dhruva Prasad (@DhruvaPrasad9) September 16, 2022
The West Zone scored 257 in the first innings despite losing the toss on an opening day, thanks to half centuries from Prithvi Shaw (60) and Rahul Tripathi (67). Shams Mulani (41) and Tanush Kotian (36) made significant contributions later in the sequence, which enabled the West Zone to record a solid score. The bowler of choice for the Central Zone was Kumar Kartikeya, who claimed five wickets in the first innings. After the Central Zone’s innings are through, Ajinkya Rahane and Yashasvi Jaiswal, the double centurions for the West Zone from the previous game, will seek to make up for it in the second innings.
