The BCCI men's selection committee on Tuesday (September 5) announced India’s 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which gets underway in India next month.
Barring Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna and standby player Sanju Samson, all the other members, who are currently featuring in the Asia Cup, will turn up for India in the quadrennial event.
There were concerns raised over KL Rahul’s match fitness but the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel included him in the World Cup squad.
Earlier this year, 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 India’s first two Asia Cup fixtures.
Rahul’s selection, however, has sparked a debate among fans and experts that who should don the gloves as Ishan Kishan has performed exceptionally well in recent times.
Sharing his two cents on the same, veteran spinner Piyush Chawla said that the conversation should not stick to Ishan or Rahul only while adding that Shreyas Iyer's spot in the team “should also be questioned.”
“We are talking about both of them, why not Shreyas Iyer? Shreyas Iyer's place should also be questioned. Ishan cannot remain in the reserves now because of the way he has batted in the top order,” Chawla was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.
According to Chawla, Ishan Kishan must feature in the playing XI as the southpaw proved his mettle in the middle-order during India’s Asia Cup opener against Pakistan.
Batting at No. 5, Kishan slammed 82 off 81 balls when the Men in Blue were reeling at 66/4.
"People had a question about how he would bat in the middle order and the way he batted in the middle order after coming into bat in a tough situation, he is going through good form and he solves the problem of the absence of a left-hander in the middle order, which we often talk about."
"So he is straightaway a walk-in for me. If we talk about KL Rahul, his track record is so good and he has done so well over the years," Chawla stated.
