Gautam Gambhir Drops Bombshell, Claims 28-Year-Old Will Be DROPPED From India's World Cup Squad

Gautam Gambhir dropped a major bombshell and stated that India will make a major change to their 15-man squad for the 2023 World Cup despite winning the 2023 Asia Cup following a comprehensive 10-wicket victory in the final over Sri Lanka.

The Men in Blue seem to have more or less all bases covered in their squad and now seem like strong favorites to lift the trophy. The Rohit Sharma-led side entered the Asia Cup with a lot of questions hanging over their heads, but they have given a fitting display of their class.

However, Gambhir has stated that the Men in Blue are set to make one big change and that Shreyas Iyer will be dropped from the World Cup squad. Shreyas made a comeback after a six-month absence due to injury in the Asia Cup but played just two games before a back spasm kept him out of the entire Super 4 stage and the final too.

Gambhir emphasized the importance of going into the World Cup with fit players and expressed questions over his form. The 2011 World Cup-winner urged questions be raised over the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for Iyer's repeated injury problems.

"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. 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," said Gambhir to Star Sports.

"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 added.

After India's victory in the final, Rohit gave an update on Shreyas and stated that he is now ready to play again, aiming for a return for the Australia series. Rohit did reveal that the 28-year-old was not fit to play in the final.

Shreyas was not available for this game because certain parameters were kept for him to tick off. I think today, he completed most of it. I should say he is alright 99 percent as of now. But he looks good, he batted and fielded for long hours, and he was on the ground long before we came to the ground. I don't think it is a worry for us," said Rohit in the post-match press conference.

Tilak Varma or Sanju Samson will be favourties to take Shreyas' place if India opt for such a change.