Gautam Gambhir believes India’s star batter will be doubtful for upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 due to fitness

The problem of India’s no. 4 batter is almost solved as KL Rahul performed brilliantly in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023. Interestingly, Shreyas Iyer was leading the race earlier for the no. 4 batter but his continuous injuries didn’t let him cement his place in the squad.

Although, Iyer made his comeback in the Asia Cup but once again he injured his back and was snubbed from the squad after playing just 1 match. In his absence Rahul and Ishan Kishan grabbed the opportunity with both hands and performed brilliantly. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir recently made shocking comments on Iyer and said that he won’t be going to be part of India’s World Cup team.

“You’ll see soon that Shreyas Iyer is not going to be part of the World Cup team, someone will replace him. At the World Cup, you have to go with fit players, performance or non-performance concerns are different. There if a player gets a spasm or an injury during an important match, you will not get a substitute, not in fielding because this is an internal injury, not an external one,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by Zee News.

“You cannot take such big risks in a big match for example against England or Australia. So in my opinion, Shreyas Iyer was not fit for this Asia Cup and he will not be fit to play at the World Cup either. Firstly because of the injury, and secondly, we don’t know his form.” he added.

It is not like Shreyas Iyer performed very well: Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir further added and said that Iyer hasn’t performed well in recent times and after the IPL he has played only one inning. The former left-handed batter also raised questions on the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as Iyer was in NCA where the officials were working on his recovery.

“It is not like Shreyas Iyer performed very well and you are taking an in-form player; your form was good before the IPL, but after the IPL, he has played only one inning. I think it is unfortunate, but I think that is how it is with injuries,”

“If you have to question, I think you can question the National Cricket Academy because he was in the National Cricket Academy for a long time and I’m sure the National Cricket Academy must have given clearance after testing everything.”