Nagpur: Star India batter Shreyas Iyer played a swashbuckling innings after India were reeling at 19/2, playing a crucial role in India's 4-wicket win over England in the 1st ODI of the three-match series on Thursday, February 6.
Iyer amassed 59 off 36 balls and stitched a crucial 108-run partnership with Shubman Gill to recover from early two blows. After the match, talking to the official TV broadcasters, Shreyas revealed that he was not part of the original playing XI and only got to know late in the night that he would be replacing an injured Virat Kohli.
Iyer disclosed that he was watching a movie and planned to stay up late on Wednesday, 5th February, but then got a late phone call from Indian captain Rohit Sharma saying that Virat Kohli had a swollen knee and was not going to play in the opener of the series. Iyer was in splits while stating that he cut his movie night short and rushed to sleep so that he could wake up fresh the next day.
"Funny story, I was watching a movie last night, and I thought I could extend my night. But then I got a call from the skipper saying that I may play because Virat has a swollen knee. And then I hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straight," Shreyas Iyer told the broadcaster after the conclusion of the match in Nagpur.
Iyer, who has been playing in the domestic cricket circuit for a brief period, spoke in detail about his preparations coming into the ODI series and the Champions Trophy. Iyer asserted that domestic cricket helped him in improving his fitness and getting clarity of thought on how to approach his innings.
"Obviously, they were predominantly bowling a lot of short deliveries and I decided to use the pace and that's what the mindset (was), try to hit the ball in the air as much as possible because the field was also inside. And they were pretty attacking at the start," Iyer explained the reason behind his aggressive mentality.
"To be honest, see, I played throughout the domestic season. It taught me a lot and gave me a decent idea about how to approach my innings, and the attitude I have to keep. And it's just the mindset that I've improved over some time. Also from the skills point of view, you need to upgrade yourself, elevate, and keep learning now and then. So I think I ticked all the boxes, and also my fitness played an important role," he added on the role of domestic cricket.
India vice-captain Shubman Gill, who was adjudged as Player of the Match for his 87-run knock, brushed aside fears around Virat Kohli's injury and confirmed that the star batter will be back in the lineup for the 2nd ODI in Cuttack. Kohli didn't play the first ODI due to a knee injury that he sustained a day before the match.
Speaking to the broadcaster after the match, Gill said that Kohli had some swelling in his knee in the morning and he was fine until practice on the eve of the match. "When he woke up in the morning, he had some swelling in his knee. He was fine till yesterday's practice session. There's nothing to worry. He will definitely be fit for the next game," said Gill.
