‘Shreyas Iyer was not going to be benched for the entire series’: Gautam Gambhir | Cricket News
India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday said that Shreyas Iyer wasn’t going to be benched for the entire series and would have played from the second ODI. The former Kolkata Knight Riders mentor also said they just wanted to give Yashasvi Jaiswal a chance in the 1st ODI because he was in good form.
“Shreyas Iyer is an important player for us. He was not going to be benched for the entire series. Just that we thought we shall give a chance to Jaiswal in the first ODI as he was in good form. I know just one game wasn’t enough but we thought we shall give him one chance. As for Shreyas he was never going to be benched for the full series. He is a very important in middle order. Good he ended up playing all three games,” Gambhir said at the post-match press conference after India whitewashed England 3-0 in Ahmedabad.
Iyer, who played a scintillating knock of 78 in the 3rd ODI, had said after the 1st ODI in Nagpur that if Virat Kohli was not injured, he would not have made it into the playing XI.
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“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 had said.
Iyer revealed that he was watching a movie last night and thought he could extend his night but then he got a call.
“I got a call from the skipper (Rohit Sharma) saying that you may play because Virat has got a swollen knee. I went back to my room and went off to sleep straight away,” Iyer had laughed.
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