Shreyas Iyer Was Ignored By Rohit Sharma And Gautam Gambhir In First ODI: Sitanshu Kotak

Shreyas Iyer was a surprise pick in India's playing XI for the first One-Day International against England at Nagpur. The announcement occurred late at night when Indian captain Rohit Sharma informed Iyer that he would play in the three-match ODI series opener due to Virat Kohli's knee soreness.

With Virat Kohli unavailable to participate, Shreyas was drafted in as a replacement and led the Men in Blue to victory at Nagpur's VCA Stadium. The middle-order batsman contributed significantly to India's four-wicket victory over England in the first ODI on February 6.

Controversy erupts after Iyer's confession

After Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal were dismissed early, Shreyas Iyer stepped up and struck 59 runs off 36 balls, adding 90+ runs with Shubman Gill to help India recover from a dismal start. His rapid and vital innings helped India take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing One-Day International series.

But the most startling and contentious thing was that Yashasvi Jaiswal ignored Iyer, and the reason for the team's brave choice remains unknown.

Rohit Sharma-Gautam Gambhir ignored Shreyas Iyer for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first ODI

However, Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak claimed that the decision to replace Iyer with Yashasvi Jaiswal was made by captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir, but refused to provide any further specifics.

During a pre-match news conference in Cuttack ahead of the second ODI, Sitanshu Kotak claimed that Yashasvi Jaiswal was supported by both captain Rohit and head coach Gambhir. He also acknowledged that the skipper and coach decided to leave out the veteran and in-form batter Iyer for the first One-Day International against England.

However, the batting coach chose not to comment on why Yashasvi Jaiswal was picked over Shreyas Iyer. This decision has already raised many eyebrows, but Kotak has not provided any additional information about the reasons. Iyer will face a similar dilemma in the second ODI, as Virat Kohli is now fit and ready to play in Cuttack.

Shreyas Iyer retained in India XI for the Second ODI

Meanwhile, despite speculations that Iyer will be dropped from India XI to accommodate Virat Kohli for the second ODI, Iyer retained his spot at.4 for the Cuttack ODI. Iyer has the experience of 63 ODIs, where he amassed 2580 runs at an average of nearly 48 and a strike rate of over 100.

At the toss, Rohit Sharma confirmed that Virat Kohli was back in the Indian XI, but not at the expense of Shreyas Iyer. Instead, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped for Kohli to make way in at his no.3 spot in ODIs.

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