Gautam Gambhir picks his Indian World Cup squad; no place for Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur

Gautam Gambhir has left out Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur from his preferred Indian squad for World Cup 2023.

The provisional 15-member Indian squad for the quadrennial event will be announced on Tuesday, September 5. Both Shreyas and Shardul are part of the Indian side currently playing the Asia Cup and are likely to be included in the World Cup squad as well.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked if his squad would only be made up of players who are part of the Asia Cup contingent, to which he responded:

"Washington Sundar is there in my squad. I have six batters, four all-rounders, and five proper bowlers in my squad. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are my six batters."

The former Indian opener added that he would pick four specialist seamers and leave out Shardul Thakur. He stated:

"The four all-rounders are Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Then five bowlers which includes four proper pacers who are there in this (Asia Cup) squad and Kuldeep Yadav."

Rohit Sharma recently mentioned that they are looking for batting depth and are therefore looking for bowlers who can wield the willow effectively at No. 8. Shardul is the only seamer in the current mix who meets that criteria.

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"You can go with three spinners as well" - Gautam Gambhir on why he wants Washington Sundar to be included

Washington Sundar last played an ODI in January this year.

Gautam Gambhir was further asked why he picked Washington Sundar, considering he has not played an ODI for a long while, to which he replied:

"A good squad is one which gives options to your captain. Rohit Sharma said he needs a lengthy batting lineup, so you can go with three spinners as well, and you will be playing in different conditions and venues. Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are similar kind of bowlers."

The cricketer-turned-commentator was also asked why he chose KL Rahul ahead of Shreyas Iyer. He responded:

"You cannot compare KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer because KL Rahul is your second wicketkeeper. It was an extremely tight call on whether I should keep Shreyas or Suryakumar Yadav. If you get Ravindra Jadeja to bat at No. 5 and Hardik Pandya at No. 6, Surya can win you matches at No. 7."

Gautam Gambhir's Indian World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav.