Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has said that Shreyas Iyer’s chances of making it to the World Cup 2023 squad is not looking good. Iyer’s persistent back injury woes have cast a cloud of uncertainty over his participation in the prestigious tournament.
Gambhir emphasized the critical importance of fitness in such high-stakes tournaments. “It is a concern. You were out for such a lengthy time and then you return for 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,” he told Star Sports.
“Performance is a different thing. 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 is 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.
Gambhir also raised questions about the National Cricket Academy’s (NCA) role in Iyer’s recurring back injuries and the possibility of premature fitness clearance.
“If questions are to be raised, then ask the NCA because that is where he was all these months and then got a clearance from there as well. Who knows maybe they cleared him too quickly?” Gambhir questioned.
