Gautam Gambhir | Image: Instagram
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed speculation that Shreyas Iyer was 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 led to 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 he was in very good form in Australia. ”
Iyer was finally preferred over Jaiswal and Gambhir described him as an ‘important player’ in the team.
Gambhir said, “I know that you cannot assess anyone (Jaiswal) with an innings.” But we always knew that Shreyas is going to be an important player for us. Sometimes when you have only three matches, you want to give all the players a chance. ‘
The Champions Trophy will begin on February 19, in which India’s first match will be from Bangladesh in Dubai on 20 February.
Gambhir believes that if someone is outside, a golden opportunity is made for someone else. He hopes that players like Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh will take responsibility and fulfill the shortage of fast bowler Jaspreet 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 Ahm Squall in the final but has been ruled out of the competition of eight teams due to back problems.
Gambhir said, “Making someone’s opportunity can be a big opportunity for someone else.” This is what 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 performed 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 (Arshdeep) also performed very well today (Wednesday). Of course you will always miss the bowler like Jasprit 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 it is not available, it is not available. If she is injured, she is injured. ”
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, 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 this way and similar cricket should be played. ”
Gambhir asked, “This is not about the batting order, it is about who can have an impact.” If you have the option to take off a level left -handed batsman in the middle order, then why will you not do this? Why would you like to keep all right -handed batsmen in the top five? ”
