File photo of legendary India opener Sunil Gavaskar© X (Twitter)
The Indian cricket team squad for Cricket World Cup 2023 was announced on Tuesday and it did not include many surprises. Shreyas Iyer was added to the squad as a specialist batter while KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan were included as the wicket-keeping batter options. However, the inclusion of these three batters mean that the fight over the No. 4 and No. 5 slot is still well and truly alive. Kishan was impressive at the No. 5 slot against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 match while Shreyas failed to score big at No. 4.
But, with KL Rahul making a return from injury, the team management may look to make certain changes to the batting order in the Super 4 stage of the competition. The wicket-keeping position is also up for grabs as playing Rahul will allow India to include an additional batter in their ranks.
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar believes that the fight for No.4 will be between two batters.
“It could be a fight between Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul for the No. 4 spot. While Ishan Kishan, with the kind of form that he is in stays in the team as a batter, Rahul can keep wickets. But if Rahul and Ishan both plays then it would be better that Ishan keeps wickets because Rahul has undergone some serious injuries. So it makes sense to make Ishan keep wickets,” he said on India Today.
India will begin their Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.
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