Team India started the ODI series on a high as they beat England by 4 wickets in the Nagpur ODI. One of the most important players who contributed to the team India’s victory was Shreyas Iyer. The swash-buckling right-handed batsman scored a phenomenal 59 of just 36 deliveries.
However, Shreyas made a surprising revelation that he was not in team India’s scheme of things for the first ODI against England. Shreyas Iyer said that because of Virat Kohli getting injured he had to cut short his movie night as skipper Rohit Sharma made a late night call to him saying that he is going to play the first match of the series.
After Virat Kohli was unavailable due to injury,The young pocket size dynamite Yashasvi Jaiswal got an opportunity to make his debut for India in the 50 over format. Cricket pundits felt that it was an automated choice. As Shreyas Iyer was the one who got rid of team India’s famous “Number 4” conundrum in ODI. Shreyas Iyer has so far scored 1397 runs at an average of 51.74 at number 4 in ODIs.
In his interaction with Star Sports Shreyas Iyer said, “As you all know I wasn’t supposed to play today. Virat unfortunately got injured and then I got the opportunity. I kept myself prepared. I knew that at any point of time I can get a chance to play. The same thing happened with me last year as well during the Asia Cup. I got injured and someone else came in and scored a century.”
“So, funny story, “I was watching a movie last night. I thought I could extend my night, but then I got a call from the skipper saying that you may play because Virat has a swollen knee. And then [I] hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straight away, added Iyer“.
Shreyas Iyer had a phenomenal run in the 2023 World Cup where he scored 468 runs at an average of 66.25 and at a 113.24 strike rate. He also had played one of the most important knocks of his career scoring 105 of just 70 deliveries against New Zealand in World Cup semis.
However after the World Cup got over and Gautam Gambhir took over as team India’s Head coach, in his first ODI assignment against Sri Lanka last year he tried various batting combinations and team India lost the series ultimately.
Shreyas Iyer’s revelation even got commentator Parthiv Patel shocked; he said, “We didn’t know that actually! We thought that Yashasvi Jaiswal played because Virat got injured. We were sure that you were going to find a place in the XI.”
Replying to which Shreyas Iyer said, “You know what you want me to say, but I’m going to keep it low-key and cherish this moment, the victory today.”
Team India will once again clash with England on Sunday, if Virat Kohli gets fit then who goes out for him remains to be seen.
