Shreyas is always part of our plans: Coach Gambhir

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has rubbished speculation that Shreyas Iyer was being sidelined from the ODI set-up despite his brilliant form, saying the right-hander was always in the "scheme of things" and will be an important player in this month's Champions Trophy.

- Agencies

AHMEDABAD: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has rubbished speculation that Shreyas Iyer was being sidelined from the ODI set-up despite his brilliant form, saying the right-hander was always in the "scheme of things" and will be an important player in this month's Champions Trophy.

Iyer displayed excellent form during the just-concluded 3-0 ODI series sweep against England, hitting a counter-attacking 36-ball 59 in the opener when India were 19/2 chasing 249 in Nagpur, and scoring 44 and 78 in the next two games.

After the opening match, he created quite a stir by stating that he got into the side only after Virat Kohli had to sit out of the game because of a sore knee. This led to speculation that he would be dropped for Kohli in the next two games.