Picked only after Kohli was unable to play, the middle-order batter has reignited another selection debate with his blistering innings against England
MUMBAI: Soon after his blazing 36-ball 59 helped India coast to a four-wicket win over England in the opening ODI in Nagpur, Shreyas Iyer threw in the shocking revelation that he wasn’t even in the team’s starting XI for the match.In fact, he was busy watching a movie the night before the game, until the extent of Virat Kohli’s knee injury became clear and forced the Mumbai cricketer’s last-minute inclusion.
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Walking in when India, chasing 249, had slipped to 19/2 in the sixth over, the Mumbaikar produced a stunning counter-attack, smashing two sixes and nine fours to leave England floored. “So (it is a) funny story. I was watching a movie last night. I thought that I could extend my night, but then I got a call from the 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 straight away. I’m going to keep it lowkey and just cherish this moment, the victory,” Iyer told Star Sports. “I wasn’t supposed to play the first game. Virat unfortunately got injured and then I got the opportunity. But I kept myself prepared, I knew that at any point of time I can get a chance to play.”

The fact that he wasn’t in the XI for the first ODI is surprising. Does Iyer enjoy the full confidence of the team management? It emerges that he was even in danger of not being picked for this series and even the Champions Trophy that follows before better sense prevailed. “There was quite a fair bit of debate on his inclusion in the lengthy selection meeting in Mumbai recently. Ultimately, those backing him cited his ODI average (47.69), and he was selected,” a source told TOI.
It helped that the selectors didn’t forget his fabulous show in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he scored 530 runs in 11 matches at 66.25, with two centuries (including a 70-ball hundred in the semifinal against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium) and three fifties. His sublime form in domestic cricket — the 30-year-old scored 325 runs in five matches at 325 — with two centuries even as Mumbai were knocked out in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, buttressed Iyer’s case. Many, including former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, currently the head coach of Punjab Kings, have been left stumped by the fact that Iyer, who was signed up for Rs 26.75 cr in the IPL auction last year, doesn’t automatically find a spot in India’s white-ball XI.

Former India batsman Pravin Amre, who has coached Iyer from a young age at his Shivaji Park Gymkhana academy and then in the Mumbai team and Delhi Capitals, is pleased with the fact that Iyer is a part of the India squad again, considering that he doesn’t even have an India contract as of now.
“Before he left to join the Indian team for this series, I told him, ‘Wearing the India jersey again should be a proud moment for you. Hold it with both your hands. God is kind that you’ve got this opportunity (to play for India) again.’
“To be in the India squad is a big thing, and I’m very happy that he’s there. And now, after the kind of innings that he’s played, he’s given a good headache to the decision-makers before the next game (should Kohli recover from his injury), and at the same time, shut his critics,” Amre told TOI.
For someone well-versed with minute details about Iyer’s batting, what impressed Amre about the batter’s innings was the ease with which he tackled the short ball, something often pointed out in the past to pan him. In the seventh over, Iyer smashed Jofra Archer’s short balls for back-to-back sixes, pulling the pacer over deep midwicket and ramping him over the third man.
“What was pleasing was that even though he was playing for India after more than six months, it never looked like he was playing for his place. He was playing for the team and did what the team needed him to do. When he walked out to bat, India were in trouble and England’s pacers were bowling at 140-plus. I liked the way he timed the ball. He wasn’t just slogging wildly. He was playing proper cricket shots. I’m just disappointed he got out to a spinner,” said Amre.