World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh has urged the Indian team management to put an end to the debate between KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer and avoid constantly switching them often ahead of marquee events as both players have recently recovered from long-standing injuries and require game time before the marquee event.
KL Rahul demonstrated his talent by scoring a century against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023, followed by a mature knock in the three-match ODI series. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer made a case for himself as India’s playing 11 in the ODI World Cup with an impressive century in the 2nd ODI match.
Speaking to Hindustan Times at an event, Yuvraj Singh wants to make their plans clear of choosing between Iyer and Rahul for the No.4 spot and give them a long opportunity in the game. The former all-rounder advised the Indian team to keep expectations low on the home soil to underplay pressure in the game.
“So whoever between KL and Iyer bats at No. 4, I don’t think India should chop and change anymore because both are coming back from an injury and both need game time.”
“Keeping up with the expectation. They should be playing the situation ‘and not the expectation,” Yuvraj Singh said.
The 50-over World Cup is scheduled to be played in India later this year and the hosts would definitely begin the competition as favourites. India’s performance in recent ICC tournaments has not really been up to the mark and the Rohit Sharma-led side would be under pressure to perform to win the ICC event after 10 long years.
I Was Thinking If Washington Sundar Would Have Played In Place Of Axar Patel – Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh believes that Washington Sundar would have been a better option in place of Ravichandran Ashwin, who replaced Axar Patel in the team as he provides a left-handed option in the lower down the order and reckons that Yuzvendra Chahal would also be a miss for the team in World Cup.
“With Axar not there we have to wait and see who will bat at No. 7. I was thinking if Washington Sundar would have played in place of Axar then India would have had another left-hander. But unfortunately, he did not get picked and so did Yuzvendra Chahal. But otherwise, I feel the combination is fine,” Yuvraj Singh added.
Yuzvendra Chahal didn’t get enough chances to play in the T20 World Cup 2022 and eventually lost his spot in the ODI team to his fellow wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. The selectors didn’t pick him for the 2023 ODI World Cup squad, instead, they went with Kuldeep Yadav as their main spinner and had all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel to support him, with Ravichandran Ashwin walking in as last-minute replacement in the squad.
