By – Prakarsh Kastwar
Gautam Gambhir issued an ultimatum to the team management while making a “unfortunate” remark about Iyer and his World Cup position.
Despite ticking all the right boxes on their way to a perfectly timed Asia Cup championship in Colombo on Sunday, India’s team management has been concerned about the injury worries that have plagued the side with less than three weeks until the start of their ODI World Cup campaign at home. Earlier in the day, India head coach Rahul Dravid warned the team that injuries so close to the competition “may cost them the World Cup,” while captain Rohit Sharma delivered an update on both Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel. However, batting icon Gautam Gambhir issued an ultimatum to the team management while making a “unfortunate” statement about Iyer and his World Cup spot.
The India No. 4 has been out of the team since March of this year due to a lower back strain. He later missed the entire IPL season due to surgery, as well as the WTC final and the West Indies trip. Following his operation, Iyer spent his days at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, where he went through match simulations and practice games to establish his worth for the Asia Cup and World Cup.
However, after only one outing in Asia Cup, Iyer was sidelined once more with a back spasm and has since stayed on the bench for the duration of the competition.
Unimpressed with Iyer’s decision to sit out the final against Sri Lanka, Gambhir told Star Sports at the start of the match on Sunday that the India batter should be replaced in the World Cup squad after failing to perform in the Asia Cup and India being uncertain about his form.
“It is a source of concern.” You were out for so long, and then you come back for the Asia Cup, play one match, and then get unfit again. I don’t imagine the team’s management will take him up for such a big event after this. Iyer will not be part of the World Cup squad and will be replaced in the coming days, as you will see. A World Cup should always be played with fit players.
Performance is something else other. Imagine if a player has a spasm or something else and you can’t locate a replacement. So, if Iyer hasn’t been fit in this competition, it’ll be impossible for him to play in the World Cup due to his injury, and we don’t even know how his form is right now. Whatever his form was, that was 7-8 months ago, and he only participated in one game since then. “It’s unfortunate,” he says.
Gambhir went on to say that team management should investigate the NCA about Iyer’s recurring back injuries.
“If questions are to be raised, ask the NCA because that is where he was all these months and then received clearance from there as well,” he stated. Perhaps they cleared him too quickly?”
Earlier on Sunday, following India’s victory against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma confessed that he did not meet certain criteria and so was not selected for the XI.
“Shreyas was unable to participate in this game since specific parameters were set for him to check. I believe he finished most of it today. I’d say he’s 99 percent fine right now. But he looks terrific, he batted and fielded for a long time, and he was on the ground before we arrived. “I don’t think it’s a concern for us,” the captain added.