IND vs ENG: 'Always in The Scheme of Things' - Gautam Gambhir on Shreyas Iyer's Spot in ODI Team

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has finally opened up on the possibility of Shreyas Iyer being benched in the series opener against England if Virat Kohli was fit, adding that the 30-year-old batter was "always in the scheme of things" in ODI side.

Fans and experts were left stunned after Shreyas's shocking statement following the first ODI in Nagpur. Shreyas had revealed that he only got chance in the Team India playing 11 due to Kohli's knee issue and a late-night call from skipper Rohit Sharma.

The 30-year-old played a swift counterattacking 59-run knock to lay the foundation for India's four-wicket win in the first ODI, and carried his form in the next two matches with scores of 44 and 78 to end the series with 181 runs at an average of 60.33.

Shreyas, who has delivered whenever given the opportunity, may have made the number four spot in Indian ODI team is his own, and Gambhir also revealed why the batter could have been benched in the first ODI.

"On Shreyas Iyer, he wasn't supposed to be benched throughout the series. We wanted to give Yashasvi a go in the first game and see what he could bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. So we wanted to see what kind of innings he can play," Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.

"I know that one inning; you can't judge someone by one inning. But we always knew that Shreyas was going to be an important player for us; what he's done at number four because number four beat the World Cup, or forget about even the World Cup, he's just an important player," he added.

With only three games left to test the squad depth before the Champions Trophy gets underway on February 19, Gambhir laid out the squad's rotation policy, which allows every player to get an opportunity.

"So sometimes, when you've only got three games, you want to try and rotate your squad as well. See, for today, we could have easily played Shami, but we wanted to give Arshdeep a go. We could have played Jadeja as well; we gave Washington a go as well," he said.

"So when you've got the Champions Trophy around the corner, you want to try and maximize these three games and try and give everyone an opportunity. But Shreyas was always in the scheme of things, and it's good that he played all three games. It's still early days; I think guys have shown some really good signs; Harshit has come along really well; Ash was really good today as well; he got his first opportunity," he added.

The Men in Blue completed a 3-0 whitewash of England on Wednesday (February 12), continuing their dominance over the visitors with an emphatic 142-run victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.