Iyer's cameo provides India with Champions Trophy headache

India v England, Scorecard

Experienced batter Shreyas Iyer showcased his capabilities with a superb half-century against England on Thursday as question marks surround the make-up of India's batting line-up at the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.

Iyer was in a devastating mood as he smashed 59 from just 36 deliveries as India successfully chased down England's modest total of 248 in Nagpur with more than 11 overs remaining to go 1-0 up in the five-game series.

The innings only came about due to the absence of Virat Kohli, with the former skipper nursing a sore knee and rested from the contest and Iyer included at the last minute after receiving a phone call from captain Rohit Sharma.

"So, funny story," Iyer told Star Sports post-match. "I was watching a movie last night, I thought 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. And then (I) hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straightaway."

"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.

"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."

While the extent of Kohli's knee injury is yet to be fully diagnosed, his impending return for the remainder of the series against England and for the Champions Trophy leaves India with a wealth of riches in their batting line-up as they attempt to squeeze in all their in-form players.

Every Champions Trophy squad

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made his ODI debut against England and looks likely to be in the mix to play at the Champions Trophy purely because he is the only left-hander in the top-order, while Shubman Gill looked in excellent touch in Nagpur as he helped himself to an excellent innings of 87 and the Player of the Match award.

India also have the experienced trio of KL Rahul, Rohit and Kohli to squeeze into their best XI, with all-rounders Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja other options that will be considered for the middle-order during the eight-team tournament in Pakistan and the UAE.

But Iyer has the runs on the board having contributed 530 runs at the most recent edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2023, with the 30-year-old crediting his recent efforts at domestic level for helping him shine against England.

“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, elevate and keep learning every now and then. I think I ticked all the boxes right and also my fitness played an important role."

India Champions Trophy squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.