Former India opener Aakash Chopra has questioned the Indian team management about Shreyas Iyer after the batter revealed that he wouldn’t have played the 1st ODI against England if Virat Kohli didn’t suffer the knee injury.
This revelation came after India defeated England in first ODI in Nagpur by 4 wickets. Shreyas Iyer played a quick knock of 59 runs in 36 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. He also added 93 runs with Shubman Gill (87) after India lost both openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal for 19 runs on the board chasing 248 runs.
Speaking to the media following India's four-wicket victory at the VCA Stadium, Shreyas Iyer said that he was not part of the plan for the Nagpur match and was only informed about his involvement after Rohit informed him on the day of the game that Kohli had a swollen knee.
The news stunned Star Sports experts Kevin Pietersen and Parthiv Patel, as well as Aakash Chopra, who was furious with the team's management. Chopra then recalled Iyer's heroics in the 2023 World Cup, when he was India's second-highest run-getter and the best-ever No. 4 in a World Cup edition.
“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,” he posted on X.
Parthiv was taken aback by Iyer's revelation, and he has since been silent on India's preparations for the Champions Trophy, but the former India wicketkeeper believed that the management is likely to consider Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener and Gill in the middle order.
"Interestingly, in the last 10 ODIs for India, Iyer's average is 60, and so does Shubman Gill. That is the reason why we all thought that Iyer would be 100% certainty. That is why you should just see Gautam Gambir and Rohit Sharma thinking what kind of combination India should go with in the next game because it looks like India want to go with Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma as openers and not Iyer in the middle order. So that would be very happy headache to have,” Parthiv told Star Sports.
If Kohli recovers for the second game on Sunday in Cuttack, it remains to be seen whether India will drop Iyer following his knock in Nagpur.
