As it happened, Team India registered a thumping win over the West Indies by six wickets and claimed a 1-0 in a three-match T20 series. Opting to bowl first, skipper Rohit marshalled his troops on the field and spinner Ravi Bishnoi made his international cricket debut.
As India decided to go in with the combination of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer in the middle-order, Shreyas Iyer, unfortunately, failed to make a cut to the playing XI.
Iyer, who had just smashed a match-winning 80-run in the last ODI of the recently-concluded series, was surprisingly left out of India's playing XI. The side did not have enough bowling options and that is the reason they preferred Venkatesh over Shreyas, revealed Rohit.
"Someone like Shreyas Iyer is sitting out, very hard on him not making it to playing eleven, but we needed someone to bowl in the middle which is why we couldn't get him in," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
"It's always nice with that kind of competition going around and a lot of the guys are missing out as well. I'm happy to have that kind of challenges rather than not having players available and not in form.”
With India in search of a quality all-rounder, Iyer may not be seen in India's T20 jersey very often. However, the captain asserted that the 27-year-old is clear about his position in the team.
"We were very clear with Shreyas and we told him we want that option going into the World Cup. Guys do understand what the team wants and all these guys are professionals and they do understand that team comes first. Once everyone is available it's something we need to sit down and understand," the India captain stated.
"Lots of things to take into consideration and sometimes it can be very tough on the guys missing out, but we want to make sure that we give out a clear message with guys performing needs to get that run and we want to put the team first. I have been talking to him (Ishan) for a long time now when he was playing with Mumbai Indians in the middle order which wasn't his natural position," Rohit concluded.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer was announced as the skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders yesterday by the two-time Indian Premier League champions.