India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed the speculation that Shreyas Iyer has been excluded from the ODI team despite his superb form. He said that this right -handed batsman, who has been consistently well, was always a part of ‘schemes’ and he will be an important player in the Champions Trophy to be held this month.
Iyer appeared in excellent form during India’s 3–0 win in the recently concluded series against England. Chasing a target of 249 runs in Nagpur, after India lost two wickets for 19 runs, he hit an aggressive innings of 59 runs in 36 balls. He scored 44 and 78 runs in the next two matches.
After the first match, Iyer created a stir by saying that he was included in the team only when Virat Kohli was out of the match due to knee pain. This caused speculation that Kohli’s return in the next two matches could be excluded.
After the third and final match on Wednesday, Gambhir said, “There was no plan to sit out during the entire series. We wanted to give Yashasvi (Jaiswal) a chance in the first match and wanted to see what he could do because Australia I was in very good form. ”
Iyer was finally preferred on Jaiswal and Gambhir described him as an ‘important player’ in the team. Gambhir said, “I know that you can’t assess any (Jaiswal) from an innings. But we always knew that Shreyas is going to be an important player for us. Sometimes when you have only three matches. So you want to give all the players a chance. ”
The Champions Trophy will begin on February 19, in which India will be first match with Bangladesh in Dubai on 20 February. Gambhir believes that if someone is outside, a golden opportunity is made for another. He hopes that players like Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh will take responsibility and fulfill the lack of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah due to injury to the Champions Trophy.
Bumrah, who played an important role in India’s T20 World Cup win last year, took 15 wickets including important spell in the final but due to back problem, eight teams have been ruled out of the competition. Gambhir said, “Missing someone’s opportunity can be a big opportunity for someone else. The same happens in the game. It is expected that these players (Rana, Arshdeep and Mohammed Shami) will perform well and work for the team. ”
Rana, who replaced Bumrah, has done well and was included in the Champions Trophy team on Tuesday night. Gambhir said, “I think the players have given some good signs. Harshit has done very well. Arsh (Arshadeep) also performed very well today. Of course you will always miss the bowler like Jaspreet Bumrah. . “
He said, “But then it is always good for a player like Mohammed Shami to come back with his experience and quality.” Asked if Bumrah’s absence will give any psychological benefits to the opposition teams on India, Gambhir said, “We cannot do anything in it. If he is not available, it is not available. If he is injured, he is not available. is hurt.”
He said, “Whether I am or captain, we cannot do much about it. We know that he is a very important player but as I just said that players like Harshit, Arsh (and) Mohammed Shami will take responsibility.”
Gambhir said that the main objective of batting all -rounder Akshar Patel at number five in the first two ODIs was to include the left -handed batsman in the team. He said, “Cricket should be played in this way. I know that many people talk about it but we should play like this and similar cricket should be played.”
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