IND vs BAN: ‘Don't Forget, He’ll Return In ODIs': Sunil Gavaskar's Strong Warning To KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer

Sunil Gavaskar, a former captain of India, has issued a strong warning to KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer on the potential return of a great player, which may have an impact on their chances of being selected for the World Cup squad. 

The ODI World Cup, which will be played at home, will now be Team India’s primary priority, and debates over who should play where and who are the backup possibilities for each position have already started. India hopes to end their ICC home drought next year and has started auditioning for every position on the Rohit Sharma-led team.

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Shreyas Iyer Among Favorites In Middle Order Position

Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, and Suryakumar Yadav are just a few of the players vying for a spot in India’s middle order in addition to the aforementioned two. 

Iyer, however, is among the favourites to win the position following a stellar ODI season in 2022, in which he scored 639 runs in 15 matches at an average of 58.09, with one century and five fifty-plus scores.

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In contrast, Rahul has only participated in eight ODIs this year, including the season opener against Bangladesh on Sunday, where he amassed 229 runs at a strike rate of 32.71 and hit two fifty-pluses. 

Shreyas Iyer And KL Rahul Need To Be Wary Of Hardik Pandya

Speaking to Sony Sports regarding the middle-order rivalry, Gavaskar acknowledged that while Rahul and Iyer’s rivalry will only be advantageous to the two of them, he cautioned them about the potential comeback of Hardik Pandya. 

“When you have someone breathing down you neck like KL Rahul will feel Shreyas Iyer is breathing down his neck which is again good for Rahul because he would want to go out there not taking any match lightly. He would want to score in every game.

And both of them are outstanding fielders and KL Rahul can keep wickets which is a huge plus. Iyer can also bowl. So it is good to have these kind of competitions for No. 5 and 6 not to forget that there is a certain Hardik Pandya who is also likely to comeback in the one-day side sooner than later,” he said.  

This year, Hardik played in just three ODIs against England, where he scored 100 runs in just two innings and a half-century. In addition, he bowled 17 over the course of the three innings, taking 6 wickets. 

Also Read: IND vs BAN: “It Seemed Earlier That He Is Only A Red-ball Bowler”- Aakash Chopra Heaps Praise On Mohammed Siraj

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah