IND vs PAK: Gautam Gambhir Wants Ishan Kishan To Feature In India's Playing XI For ODI World Cup 2023 , Says 'I Feel He Has Done Everything He Needs To Do...'

Former India player, Gautam Gambhir spoke on India’s ODI World Cup 2023 squad and said that Ishan Kishan should be included in the playing eleven over KL Rahul.

On Tuesday (September 5th), just 30 days before the start of the ODI World Cup India announced their squad for the upcoming extravaganza tournament.

KL Rahul has been out of the playing eleven for the last four months after he suffered a thigh injury in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

KL Rahul also went through surgery and completed his rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. However, he missed the first two matches in the Asia Cup 2023 after he received a niggle, as confirmed by Ajit Agarkar.

On the other hand, Ishan Kishan displayed a stellar inning in their first match of the Asia Cup 2023 against Pakistan on Saturday (September 2nd). Ishan Kishan played an 82-run knock from 81 balls with a strike rate of 101.23 and led India to a total of 266 runs. However, the match was cancelled later without any result due to heavy rain.

You choose the player who can perform and win you the World Cup: Gautam Gambhir on Ishan Kishan

While speaking on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir said that the team management should select by their form and not by their name.

The former player praised Ishan Kishan and said that the player did everything to be included in the squad and be the frontrunner ahead of KL Rahul who just recovered from injury.

“Tell me something, what is more important to win a championship — name or form? If Rohit (Sharma) or Virat (Kohli) had scored something similar (four consecutive fifties), would you still say that KL Rahul would replace them?

“The point is, when you’re gearing up to win the World Cup, you don’t see the name, you judge by their form. You choose the player who can perform and win you the World Cup. I feel Ishan Kishan has done everything he needs to do to be a frontrunner,” Gautam Gambhir said.

India will play against Pakistan in the third Super Four match of the Asia Cup 2023 on Sunday (September 10th) at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

India’s ODI World Cup 2023 squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.