“You Talk About Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Me But…”: Gautam Gambhir On Star Who ‘Set Up’ 2011 World Cup For Indian Cricket Team

The Indian cricket team’s 2023 World Cup squad announcement will be made on Tuesday. All eyes are on the 15 members who will be named for the mega event. That India haven’t won any ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy puts the Rohit Sharma-led team under more focus. While the team is full of heavyweights, India’s form going into the World Cup has not been exceptional. There are stars who are coming back from injury while the Indian batting top order has been regularly asked difficult questions by top teams.

Going into the World Cup, 2011 winner Gautam Gambhir named the one man who can make a huge difference to the side’s chances at the quadrennial event.

“We talk about Yuvraj Singh, MS’ innings, my innings, but actually it was Zaheer Khan, who set us the entire tournament. You look at the spell against England where he got Andrew Strauss, you look at the spell at World Cup final. Five over four maidens, 1/1. That’s how you set the tone. That’s why I can’t look beyond Jaspreet Bumrah if India has to…he has to have a A-tournament,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.

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.