Shreyas Iyer will be replaced in India's World Cup squad, says Gautam Gambhir

Shreyas Iyer will be replaced in India’s World Cup squad, says Gautam Gambhir

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes that middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer might be replaced in the India World Cup squad. Iyer, who had returned to the national side after an injury layoff of 6 months pulled up a back spasm and only batted in one match at the Asia Cup 2023. His replacements KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan did well throughout the tournament, which India won by defeating Sri Lanka by a 10-wicket margin.

Speaking on Star Sports the World Cup winner – Gambhir said that it would not be possible to trust Shreyas’s form and fitness.

“It is a concern. You were out for such a lengthy time and then you return for the Asia Cup, play one match and then again become unfit. I don’t think after this team management will pick up him for such a big tournament. You will see in the coming days that Iyer won’t be part of the World Cup squad and someone will be replacing him. You should always go into a World Cup with fit players. Performance is a different thing,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

Middle-order batter Sanju Samson is waiting in the ranks and could be the prime candidate to cover Iyer, who has been out since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Iyer missed the entirety of the Indian Premier League and the World Test Championship Final and finally made a comeback in the Asia Cup 2023 after his back surgery.

“Imagine if a player suffers from a spasm or some other thing then you cannot find a replacement. So if Iyer hasn’t been fit in this tournament then it is very difficult for him to be part of the World Cup because of his injury and then we don’t even know how his form is presently. Whatever his form was, it was 7-8 months back after which he only played in one game. So it is unfortunate,” he added.

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