Gambhir Reveals Why Shreyas Iyer Was Benched Before ODI Series

The three-match ODI series between India and England has concluded, India sealed a 3-0 clean sweep against England in the ODI series. England will be disappointed, especially with this being their final series before the Champions Trophy.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir finally shared whether Shreyas Iyer was meant to sit out all three ODIs against England. He confirmed that the 30-year-old batter was always part of their plans.

Shreyas said he got a late-night call from captain Rohit Sharma confirming his spot in the playing XI. Virat Kohli’s knee injury opened up a spot. If Kohli had been fit, Shreyas would have started the series on the bench.

Gambhir said in the post-match press conference, "On Shreyas Iyer, he wasn't supposed to be benched throughout the series. We wanted to give Yashasvi a go in the first game and see what he could bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. So we wanted to see what kind of innings he can play," 

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In the first ODI, Shreyas hit a quick 59-run knock, laying the foundation for India’s four-wicket win. He kept up his form and ended the series with 181 runs at an average of 60.33.

Gambhir also explained why Iyer was initially benched. Yashasvi Jaiswal's performance in Australia was very well, so the team management wanted to give him a chance, but he didn't make that much impact in his debut.

"I know that one inning; you can't judge someone by one inning. But we always knew that Shreyas was going to be an important player for us; what he's done at number four because number four beat the World Cup, or forget about even the World Cup, he's just an important player," he added.

In the final match, Shreyas showed why he is India’s best choice for the number four spot in ODIs. He scored 78 runs in just 64 balls, including eight fours and two sixes.

"So sometimes, when you've only got three games, you want to try and rotate your squad as well. See, for today, we could have easily played Shami, but we wanted to give Arshdeep a go. We could have played Jadeja as well; we gave Washington a go as well," Gambhir said.

The ICC Champions Trophy is set to begin on February 19. Pakistan and UAE will host the ninth edition of this tournament. All the India matches were played in Dubai.

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