Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has urged the team management to pick the best in-form players for the World Cup after testing out the squad in the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka and in the Australia ODI series at home.
The World Cup will be played solely in India for the first time and will start from October 5 onwards, with India playing their first match on October 8 against Australia in Chennai.
Gambhir has emphasized on the fact that it’s the form and impact of a player that should be taken into consideration for India to win the ODI World Cup.
“I will only look at the form, not the name. If you want to win the World Cup, only form and impact from the players will help you win. A good thing the selectors have done is picked Suryakumar Yadav for the team. Because Suryakumar Yadav may not have the consistency, 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 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 who will play in the World Cup. Because there should be a series before the World Cup where your main squad plays together,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
Furthermore, he said that there is no particular player confirmed for a certain spot while speaking about the no.4 batting spot conundrum in the Indian team.
“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,” Gambhir said.
“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.
Before the World Cup, India will have a chance to test out this combination in the Asia Cup 2023, which begins on August 30 and will see Men in Blue clashing with Pakistan on September 2nd in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
(Star Sports inputs)
