With his brilliant performance in the ODI series opener against England at Nagpur, Shreyas Iyer has cemented his place in the Indian ODI side. Iyer had to wait for a chance to come back into the team, and taking full advantage of it, he demonstrated the brilliance of his batting.
Iyer’s half-century off 30 balls gave momentum to the innings, while Shubman Gill’s solid effort ensured a win for India. His 36-ball 59 destroyed the chase and sent a clear message that he is an asset for India in the matches ahead.
“So, funny story,” Iyer said. “I was watching a movie last night, I thought I could extend my night, but then I got a call from skipper saying that you may play because Virat has got a swollen knee. And then [I] hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straightaway,” Iyer told the host broadcaster Star Sports after the match.
“Shreyas Iyer’s the first Indian to score 500+ runs batting at 4”- Aakash Chopra
Shreyas Iyer’s post-match interview left former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra perplexed. Chopra’s direct inquiry, “What did Shreyas do wrong that the Indian team benched him?” resonated with a lot of people.
“Trying to wrap my head around the revelation that Iyer wasn’t likely to play if Kohli was fit. He’s the first Indian to score 500+ runs batting at 4 in a World Cup. 2023. How could you bench him? And if he wasn’t going to play, where was Kohli supposed to bat? At 4? Surely, Gill wasn’t getting pushed to 4,” Chopra said via his social media channel.
It would be an unfortunate thing for India in that it would lose Iyer, a capable batter against spin, in Dubai and also go against the BCCI’s expectations from the players. Someone who, as captain, has won the IPL and played a knock that any ODI batsman would call unique in Nagpur has gone past the grind in the domestic circuit after getting dropped from the BCCI contract. If Iyer is just a backup option, it’s hard to believe he could have a regular place on the national team.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
