India's explosive middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was not a part of the original playing XI for the first ODI against England. Virat Kohli's knee injury led to Iyer getting the nod and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands with a blazing 59 to put England bowlers under pressure. Iyer's ommission surprised Harbhajan Singh who feels that divine intervention played its part as the Mumbai batter got a chance to play in Nagpur ODI. Iyer would have warm the benches as the team management wanted young Yashasvi Jaiswal some ODI experience ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
"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 Singh told Hindustan Times on the sidelines of ILT20.
"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."
Iyer walked in to bat at no.4 in the sixth over. He hit two sixes and nine fours in his 36-ball 59 and shared a 94-run partnership for the third wicket with Shubman Gill. When he lost his wicket to left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell, India's run rate in the run chase was over seven runs per over. After Iyer departed, Axar Patel and Gill shared a 108-run partnership for the fourth wicket. India chased down the target of 249 with 68 balls to spare.
It will be interesting to see if the team management trusts in Iyer when Kohli recovers. The second ODI is scheduled to be played on February 9 at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack.