Delhi Capitals suffer a major setback as captain Shreyas Iyer is out of IPL 2021

Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 due to a shoulder injury, the franchise confirmed on Thursday.

Iyer dislocated his left shoulder while fielding in the first One-Day International (ODI) between India and England in Pune on Tuesday (March 23).

"Absolutely devastated and gutted for our skipper @ShreyasIyer15 - stay strong captain - hope for a very quick recovery. Have full faith that you will come back even stronger from this. India needs you in the T20 World Cup, "Capitals' co-owner Parth Jindal wrote on his official Twitter account.

While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to officially announce Iyer being ruled out of the remaining ODIs against England, it is understood that scans have shown a tear in Iyer's shoulder that could force him to undergo surgery.

With the 66-run victory in the opening game, India went 1-0 up in the ongoing three-match ODI series against England. The second and third ODIs are scheduled to take place on March 26 and 28 at the same venue in Pune, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

While Iyer's absence may not hurt India as they have Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill on the bench, Delhi Capitals (DC) will certainly miss his presence, both on and off the field. He was the first skipper to lead DC to their first IPL final, which happened last season. Iyer's side ended up losing to Mumbai Indians (MI), who clinched their record fifth title.

He was not only a great captain but also their key batsman as he finished IPL 2020 as the fourth-highest run-scorer, and second-highest for DC, with an aggregate of 519 runs behind KL Rahul, DC teammate Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.

Overall, Iyer has scored 2,200 runs in 79 IPL games since his maiden season in 2015. While he is yet to score a century in the T20 tournament, he has registered 16 fifties.

The timing of Iyer's injury could not have been worse. He recently signed with English county Lancashire for the upcoming Royal London Cup (50-over tournament). It is still uncertain if Iyer will be able to recover in time for his county stint. If he manages to make it to the UK in time for the Royal London Club, he'll be the sixth Indian cricketer to play for Lancashire after Farokh Engineer, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Murali Karthik and Dinesh Mongia. Engineer was the first to represent Lancashire after joining the side in 1968 and currently, he is the county's vice-president.