Iyer has been India’s mainstay No. 4 in the ODI format for the past couple of years, having long ended the conundrum that had troubled the team during the 2019 World Cup. In fact, in the 2023 edition of the 50-over event, he was India’s second-highest run-getter with 530 runs at 66.25, with a strike rate of 113.24, laced with two centuries and three fifties. He was India’s best-ever No. 4 in a World Cup edition. And he proved it yet again on Thursday when he smashed a counter-attacking 36-ball 59 to spark India’s come back after a horror start in the powerplay.
Yet, Iyer, as revealed by him in a post-match chat with former cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Parthiv Patel, said that he was not supposed to play in Nagpur until the opportunity opened for him after Kohli suffered from swollen knee on the eve of the game.
“I wasn’t supposed to play the first game. As we all know, Virat unfortunately got injured and then I got the opportunity. But I had kept myself prepared. I knew that, you know, at any point in time, I could get a chance to play. And the same thing happened to me last year during the Asia Cup. I got injured, and someone else came, and he scored a century,” he told Star Sports leaving the two experts in absolute silence.
Pietersen then asked Iyer about the change in mindset from knowing that he would not play in Nagpur to scoring a match-winning fifty.
The newly-announced Punjab Kings captain said: “It’s actually a funny story. I was watching the movie last night. I thought that I could extend my nighttime. Then I got a call from the skipper saying that I may play because Virat has got a swollen knee, and I hurried back to my room and went off to sleep straight. So we didn’t know that.”
Iyer goes silent on India’s Champions Trophy plan
Parthiv, who still couldn’t understand why Iyer was not considered for the series opener, said that he felt debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal replaced Kohli.
Iyer, however, went silent thereafter, not giving away much on India’s plans ahead of the Champions Trophy. He said: “I don’t know what you want me to say, but I’m gonna keep it low key and just, you know, cherish this moment, the victory.”
