Former Indian cricket team opener Gautam Gambhir named his picks for the ICC World Cup 2023 squad and it came with a couple of surprise choices. Both Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur did not find any place in his squad and instead, Gambhir picked all-rounder Washington Sundar and also pacer Prasidh Krishna as the fourth fast bowling option. In the batting department, he went with Suryakumar Yadav with KL Rahul as the second wicket-keeping option behind Ishan Kishan who will be the top pick for the position.

During an interaction on Star Sports, Gambhir picked Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul as specialist batting options. Ishan Kishan was the wicket-keeping option with Sanju Samson missing the cut. Even Tilak Varma did not find any place in his squad.

With KL Rahul in the side, India have the chance of playing an extra batter if the situation demands.

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— Sanju Here (@me_sanjureddy) September 4, 2023

When it  comes to all-rounders, Gambhir opted for Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar. Kuldeep Yadav was the third spin bowling option in the squad.

The fast bowling department had the three usual choices – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. However, the surprising selection was that of Prasidh Krishna who was out with injury and made his comeback against Ireland. Shardul Thakur did not find any place in the team.

Gautam Gambhir’s ICC World Cup 2023 squad for India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami.