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India batter Shreyas Iyer, who played match-winning knock in the first ODI against England, revealed that he wasn’t part of the original playing XI, and was only included after Virat Kohli picked up an injury ahead of the match. Kohli sat out the series opener in Nagpur owing to a sore knee. Turning disaster into opportunity, Iyer scored a counter-attacking 59 after India had lost both openers for cheap. His 94-run stand with vice-captain Shubman Gill set the tone for India’s four-wicket win.
Speaking on Iyer’s knock in the 1st ODI, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh was all praise for the batter. Harbhajan suggested even god wanted Iyer to play that knock which turned the game in India’s favour after Englad struck early.
“The team management has selected him in the squad but they had to decide whether they want to go with him or Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top. I think the team is currently trusting Yashasvi more. Maybe the management is looking to have a right-left combination up top. This is how the team went. But I think if the management wanted not to play Shreyas, then the only reason was to have Yashasvi Jaiswal up top,” Harbhajan told Hindustan Times.
Harbhajan added that due to the impact of his knock, it will be difficult for the team to drop Iyer for the next match.
“Shreyas is a proven performer. He scored a lot of runs in the World Cup. When a player scores so many runs, he thinks he would get opportunities. He is the best in his eye and hence, even God felt the same. He got what no one else thought and what someone else thought for Shreyas, that didn’t happen. The player whom you were thinking about dropping, he played such an innings, he made it an one-sided game. The 50 runs he scored, changed the complexion of the game,” he added.
Harbhajan also shared his views on the team management picking KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper. He feels that Pant will have to wait for his chance, which is only a matter of time.
“Rishabh Pant is a very good player but the way the management is thinking right now, it seems like KL Rahul is being preferred as a wicketkeeper-batter option. So now Rishabh Pant will have to wait for his opportunity to come. Dhruv Jurel, Sanju Samson are also in the line. I just hope that the team which is selected right now, performs well. I hope KL Rahul performs well. As far as Rishabh Pant, he will eventually be there in the lineup, be it today or tomorrow,” Harbhajan explained.
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