The BCCI management under Ajit Agarkar has been stressing a lot to keep the players running. Recently during the Duleep Trophy, BCCI literally urged the south Zone to play the just-returned players like KL Rahul, Sai Sudharshan, and even the fast bowler Siraj. Keeping the batter aside, Siraj played all the five Tests, and as a bowler, he really needs a breather! Thankfully South Zone denied bringing them in. A similar thing happened with Shreyas Iyer. Non stop play and then him denying to play just one Ranji match got him scratched out from the Central Contract. Even though he didn't call anything directly, he made sure to express his frustration—players are not robots! It is not unknown to anyone that Iyer survived on injections, battling his back spasm during the 2023 World Cup. 530 runs came from the silent warrior who has just recovered from a spine surgery executed in an English hospital. Later the World Cup, he got no rest and straight away played the home T20 series against Australia and was then selected for the England series. He was still suffering from back issues. Shreyas was not in good form and was dropped from the Test squad halfway into the series and was asked to play the Ranji Trophy semifinal. Shreyas' biggest mistake was that he didn't inform. He went to the KKR academy to work on his workload. The fact that he was in an Ipl academy, irked Agarkar, and straightaway threw him out from the Contract. Read also: Watch: Mohammad Nawaz Hat-Trick Powers Pakistan to Tri-Series Win Even though Iyer was not elaborate about the entire background, Iyer revealed how he was almost paralyzed in one leg and couldn't even pick up a rod. Speaking to GQ India, he said, "No one can understand the pain I went through. I was totally paralyzed 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. The pain was horrendous, running all the way down to my tiny toe. It was so scary." He added, "People see athletes as robots who have to perform in every game. They don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.” Shreyas Iyer was ignored for a long time until Rohit Sharma's stubbornness got him into the 2025 Champions Trophy team. He was again ignored for the Anderson-Tendulkar Test series, despite having a stellar outing in 2025 IPL. However, he was later consoled with a captaincy role in the India A team this September against Australia A for two unofficial Tests in Ekana Stadium.