Gavaskar backed Ishan Kishan to retain his place in the team.
The squad was pretty much the same picked for the ongoing Asia Cup, barring the exclusion of Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna.
There were questions raised over Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul’s match fitness but the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel included both of them in the World Cup squad.
Rahul will also be the wicketkeeping choice along with Ishan Kishan, who has performed exceptionally well in his last few ODI outings.
Looking at the 15-member squad, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar backed the idea of playing both Kishan and Rahul in the playing XI.
Gavaskar reckons it's good to have a problem of plenty and KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer might have to battle it out for one middle-order spot.
"It could be a fight between KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer in the Super Fours in the Asia Cup. With the kind of form that Ishan Kishan showcased against Pakistan... if both Rahul and Ishan play, it might be a good idea to let Ishan keep wickets because if Rahul has undergone recovery from an injury, then getting up and down might be a bit of an issue. It makes sense to have Ishan to keep wickets. It could actually be a fight between Shreyas and KL Rahul for the No. 4 and No. 5 positions," Gavaskar told India Today.
Earlier this year, KL Rahul sustained a thigh injury during an IPL match. Subsequently, he underwent surgery in London and extended rehabilitation at the NCA in Bangalore.
While the wicketkeeper-batter completely recovered from his thigh surgery, he picked up a fresh niggle which ruled him out of the first Asia Cup 2023 matches.
Rahul is now set to join the Indian team in Sri Lanka for the remaining Asia Cup 2023 after clearing a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy. However, there are concerns remain over his match fitness.
However, Gavaskar endorsed his selection, saying: "He is a proven performer with the bat and when you have been a proven performer, you get a bit of leeway. That's exactly what has happened in this instance. It can be a bit of a worry that he hasn't played any cricket. Now, you are flying him to Sri Lanka, he will be able to play a few matches and then you see his fitness.”
"You have 3 ODIs against Australia in the 3rd week of September. You can still have a replacement in the World Cup. There is a technical committee of the ICC that will assess the injury and decide whether there can be a replacement or not. I don't think there should be a problem with that," he further remarked.
India’s World Cup Squad:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj