Shreyas Iyer, the man who broke the base of England's bowling at the very beginning of India's batting innings, revealed that he was not in the initial plan of India's playing XI. Speaking to the broadcasters, he recalled the "funny story" when the call came while he was watching a movie last night. On February 06, after the conclusion of the first ODI against England at Nagpur, Iyer walked in to the press conference where he said that the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma informed him late at night that he might be a substitute for the injured Virat Kohli. Iyer said, "Funny story, I was watching a movie last night, and I thought I could extend my night. But then I got a call from the skipper saying that I may play because Virat has a swollen knee. And then I hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straight." Shreyas Iyer is no in 1st ODI playing 11 🤯WTF with team management 🤬#ShreyasIyer pic.twitter.com/n0Ereb5ZKE — fun_platinum (@Fun_Platinum7) February 7, 2025 Read also: King Kohli returns for Cuttack ODI, confirms Shubman Gill Shreyas Iyer caught the plans, credits domestic cricket Shreyas Iyer started his day with a phenomenal runout against Phil Salt and then continued the show with his bat, especially hitting two back-to-back sixes against Jofra Archer, with the first one coming when he was batting at 6! Shreyas Iyer seemed to read the plans, revealing that England's strategy was exposed to him. He said, "Obviously, they were predominantly bowling a lot of short deliveries and I decided to use the pace and that's what the mindset (was), try to hit the ball in the air as much as possible because the field was also inside. And they were pretty attacking at the start." The fact that he has been countered on his weakness against short balls looked to have been answered after a hook shot against Archer's 150 km/hr short ball. For the positive development, he credited the sidearmers. He said, "I didn't decide that I would be playing in a particular way or I would be changing something. Throughout the domestic series, you see, I was playing with a similar backlift and stance. And obviously, if the bowler is bowling above 140-150, then you would like to use the crease as much as possible, and use the pace and guide the ball in the gaps, and that's what my mindset was. In domestic cricket you don't get to face that 140+ pace a lot so we ask the side-armers to bowl on the body line as much as possible and try to use the pace. I'm glad that I was able to execute it well too." However, it looks concerning that Shreyas Iyer batted as a substitute batter for a struggling Virat Kohli. Someone who scored more than 500 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup and had a phenomenal domestic season, if he needs someone to get injured to get into the team, is indeed concerning, especially on the eve of the Champions Trophy. Hopefully the 59-run windy innings will clear the clouds in the dressing room.