'Final mei pahuchne ki asli wajah' - Fans react as Shreyas Iyer spotted in stands during India vs Lebanon game of SAFF Championships

India defeated Lebanon 4-2 in an intense penalty shootout to book a place in the final of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championships 2023. Interestingly, Indian star batter Shreyas Iyer was present among the crowd to support his country. While Shreyas Iyer remained sidelined due to injuries and is out of action currently, he made sure to attend the crucial game in Bengaluru happening just kilometres away from the National Cricket Academy (NCA), where he is stationed for his recovery.

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For those who are unaware, Shreyas Iyer recently underwent a successful surgery for his chronic back injury, which kept him unavailable from December to March. Iyer is reportedly receiving physical rehabilitation at the NCA right now. However, given that he was unable to participate in India's tour of the West Indies, the right-handed batsman is unlikely to be available for the 2023 Asia Cup. Photos of Shreyas Iyer in the stands of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium have gone viral on social media with fans reacting to them plentifully.

India will face Kuwait in the final of the SAFF Championships 2023

Talking about the SAFF Championships, India will compete in the regional tournament's championship game for the 13th time overall and the ninth time straight. In the previous 13 tournaments, they have triumphed eight times. India only failed to place in the top two once, in 2003.

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India has now defeated Lebanon twice in the past two weeks after not doing it for 46 years. They gained significant ranking points with the 2-0 victory in Bhubaneswar. They have a chance to capture regional honour thanks to their gruelling 4-2 victory on penalties in the South Asian Championship semifinals on Saturday after neither team was able to break the stalemate after 120 minutes of play. Sunil Chhetri, Mahesh Singh, Anwar Ali, and Udanta Singh scored for India, while goalie Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved Khalil Bader and Lebanon's captain Hassan Maatouk's penalties. In the final on Tuesday, India will now take on Kuwait for continental pride.

Here's how fans reacted:

Ky mtlb dhanashree bhee baithi hai but frame Kay bahar chali gayi

— arpan Goyal (@Arpan_Goyal1) July 2, 2023

Somegoes to support Manchester United and some goes to support country

— NiAyu🇮🇳 (@AyushShubham7) July 1, 2023

Hats off to shreyas.. we should encourage all sports.

— Prashanth (@PrashanthKLR1) July 1, 2023

Publicity ☕

— Santhosh Santhosh (@sometimes6789) July 1, 2023

He looks least interested.. Might be thinking about his next Insta reel.

— Suraj Menon (@SurajTweettss) July 1, 2023

Yahan bhi uske khayalo me khoya hai

— Xx Rusty xX (@willintochilln) July 2, 2023

Dhansree ko ni laya bc

— Ashwin verma (@navyguy_) July 1, 2023

Bhabhi nahi dikh rahi

— Ashutosh ojha (@Ashutos23247768) July 1, 2023