ICC World Cup 2023: Let It Be Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul Or Anybody: Gautam Gambhir Urges Selectors To Pick In-Form Players

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes form and performance will determine a player’s position in the Indian team and not a reputation for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. The World Cup winner made the comment while speaking about KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.

Both the batsmen have been recalled to the ODI side for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. While both players are important members of India’s ODI team, they have not played competitive cricket for quite some time now. Iyer has not played a match since suffering the back injury in March this year. On the other hand, Rahul was sidelined at the beginning of May after suffering a thigh injury while fielding in IPL 2023.

Both the players are short on match practice as of now and will be hoping to hit the ground running in the Asia Cup to prove their World Cup credentials. And while both the star batsmen are widely expected to play a key role for India in the forthcoming World Cup, Gautam Gambhir believes it will depend on their form and performance in the coming days.

“One thing is clear; there is no front-runner for a position when you are trying to win the World Cup. Form and impact are important. The players who are in form need to be picked, rather than those who are not. Let it be Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, or anybody. If Tilak Varma is in better form than someone, if Suryakumar Yadav is in better form than Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul or Ishan Kishan, then you need to start that player,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.

“Because the World Cup comes once in four years, you don’t go and see who is a front-runner or not. Who is in the best form after the Asia Cup and the Australia series, just as Rohit Sharma had said, there is no guarantee for anybody’s position. It’s great to have Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul back from injury, but they will need to perform if they want to get in the starting lineup of the squad,” he added.

Gautam Gambhir on India’s squad for the World Cup:

Speaking further, Gautam Gambhir said that the three-match ODI series against Australia next month will determine the India squad for the World Cup. India and Australia will play three ODIs, starting from September 22, and will have the opportunity to finetune their preparations for the marquee event.

“I will only look at the form, not the name. Because if you want to win the World Cup, only form and impact from the players will help you win,” Gautam Gambhir said.

“A good thing the selectors have done is picked Suryakumar Yadav in the team. Because Suryakumar Yadav may not have the consistency, but he has the impact, and the team management should find the most efficient way to use him.

“So, in my opinion, whether it’s KL Rahul or Shreyas Iyer or anybody, we will look at their form after the Asia Cup and which team plays in the Australia series. That series will determine who plays in the World Cup rather than deciding after the series is over, that who will play in the World Cup. Because there should be a series before the World Cup where your main squad plays together,” he added.

The Asia Cup is scheduled to get underway on August 30. India will open their campaign on September 2 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Pallekele. After the Asia Cup, India will play the three-match series against Australia before launching their World Cup campaign against the same opposition on October 8 in Chennai.