How Shreyas Iyer Went From Watching A Movie To Replacing Virat Kohli For India vs England 1st ODI

While watching a movie and contemplating "extending his night," a call from India captain Rohit Sharma alerted him about replacing Virat Kohli in the first ODI against England and Shreyas Iyer channeled all his recent domestic circuit experience to score his 19th ODI fifty, playing a pivotal role in India's chase on Thursday. Iyer walked in when India were shaken twice early to slip to 19 for two chasing 249, but produced a stunning counter-attack hitting two sixes and nine fours to make 59 off 36 balls, which took the wind out of England's sails.

“So (it is a) funny story. I was watching a movie last night. I thought that I could extend my night, but then I got a call from skipper saying that you may play because Virat has got a swollen knee,” Iyer told Star Sports.

“And then (I) hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straight away…. I'm going to keep it low-key and just cherish this moment, the victory.” “I wasn't supposed to play the first game, Virat unfortunately got injured and then I got the opportunity. But I kept myself prepared, I knew that at any point of time I can get a chance to play,” he said.

Iyer continued, “The same thing happened with me last year as well during the Asia Cup. I got injured and someone else came and he scored a century.” For someone who was debatably criticised for ignoring domestic cricket over IPL, Iyer credited his experience in last year or so for both his fitness and form.

“To be honest, I played throughout the domestic season, it taught me a lot and gave me a decent idea about how to approach my innings, the attitude I have to keep and it's just the mindset that I've improved over a period of time,” he said.

“Also, from the skills point of view, you need to upgrade yourself,