Great to have them back but they need to perform: Gambhir on Rahul, Iyer's comeback for Asia Cup

On Monday (August 21), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a strong 17-man squad for Team India's campaign in the forthcoming Asia Cup. The squad includes KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer as the duo mark their return after a long injury layoff. Rahul got injured during IPL 2023, where he was leading the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Iyer got ruled out during the middle of 2022/23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home, early this year. Rahul suffered a thigh injury whereas Iyer's back issues resurfaced.

Thus, Iyer and Rahul were badly missed by the Indian team management as the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid-led national side tried several players in the middle order to fill the void created by the the two. With India preparing hard for the home ODI World Cup, set to kick off on October 5, the Men in Blue will be relieved to see the return of Iyer and Rahul for the continental tournament, which commences on August 30. The two will be eager to make the most of the opportunities with only a handful of games left before India's ODI WC opener, on October 8.

After Iyer and Rahul's return, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir reacted to the development andbelieves the two have to perform if they want to start in the playing XI in India's World Cup opener, where they face Australia in Chennai.

'It’s great to have Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul back, but they will need to perform'

Gambhir said on Star Sports, "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. 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, “I will only look at the form, not the name. Because 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 in the team. Because Suryakumar Yadav may not have the consistency, but 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 or 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, that who will play in the World Cup. Because there should be a series before the World Cup where your main squad plays together.”

Rohit & Co. are placed in Group A with Pakistan and Nepal in the upcoming Asia Cup. They begin their campaign versus arch-rivals Babar Azam-led Men in Green, on September 02 in Pallekele.

India squad for Asia Cup 2023

Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Prasidh Krishna

WATCH WION LIVE HERE