IND vs AUS: Gautam Gambhir Highlights Major Weakness In Indian Team Ahead Of The ICC World Cup 2023

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has fired a warning to Team India ahead of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. The Men in Blue are riding high on confidence at the moment after winning the Asia Cup.

The Rohit Sharma-led side came up with a number of stunning performances to power India to a record-extending eighth Asia Cup title. In the final, they blew Sri Lanka away in Colombo, winning the game by 10 wickets. With Mohammed Siraj taking 6 wickets for just 21 runs, India bowled out Sri Lanka for a paltry total of 50 runs and chased it down in just 6.1 overs.

Before the final, India had defeated Nepal by 10 wickets. In the Super 4 stage, they registered a record 228-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan. The Asia Cup champions followed it up with an impressive 41-run win over Sri Lanka while defending a modest total of 213 runs. India did lose against Bangladesh by 6 runs but they had rested six key players for the match.

Gautam Gambhir’s warning for Team India:

While India looked in good form at the Asia Cup, Gautam Gambhir has pointed out one weakness for the team ahead of the World Cup. The World Cup winner has said that the hosts could land in trouble if Ravindra Jadeja’s poor displays with the bat continue in the World Cup.

“We know he (Jadeja) can bowl 10 overs on any given day on any surface. He is an amazing fielder but he will have to contribute better as a batter at No. 7 because you cannot go in with just six batters.

“If Ishan Kishan plays at No. 5, there are question marks there as well. So Ravindra Jadeja will have to win matches with batting because you might have a situation where you need 80 or 90 runs in 10 overs and the No. 6 and No. 7 batters might be playing together,” noted Gautam Gambhir during a discussion on Star Sports.

In the Asia Cup, Ravindra Jadeja batted in 3 games and managed to score only 25 runs. The spin-bowling allrounder has not scored a fifty in ODIs since 2020. In the ongoing year, Ravindra Jadeja has managed to score only 138 runs in 11 games at a poor strike-rate of 56. In 9 innings, he has managed to cross the 20-run mark just once.