Shreyas Iyer wasn’t likely to play if Kohli was fit…first Indian to score 500+ runs batting at 4: Aakash Chopra slams selection thought process | Cricket News

India was 19-2 when Shreyas Iyer walked to the crease on Thursday. The likes of Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood were bowling thunderbolts to the batters under lights defending 249 runs. However, Iyer was up to the challenge as he came up with a sublime counter-attacking innings of 36-ball 59 which changed the momentum of the game.
After the game, Iyer would reveal that he was not supposed to play the game and it was only because Virat Kohli had an injury the night before. “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,” Iyer said.
However, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra was unhappy about the thought process of dropping Iyer from the team. “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 tweeted on X.
“I got a call from the skipper (Rohit Sharma) saying that you may play because Virat has got a swollen knee,” Iyer would reveal. “I went back to my room and went off to sleep straight away.” Thursday’s revelation revealed India are now thinking of changing tack. If Jaiswal is a regular and Shubman Gill takes the No.3 position, it will have Virat Kohli at No.4. The left-handed Axar is likely to bat next with Rahul or Pandya next, depending on the state of the game.