With the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup 2023 coming at the door, the Indian Cricket team is fretting over fitness issues to key players KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. Both players are on the road to recovery while undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. They have missed cricketing action for months due to their respective injuries. However, with the Indian team set to be picked for Asia Cup and also the World Cup, captain Rohit Sharma has opened up on whether these incoming players will be an automatic pick for the tournament in India.
While speaking at an event to promote Laliga EA Sports season, captain Sharma spoke about whether Rahul and Iyer will be given direct entries for the tournament. "No one is an automatic (selection), even I am not. We cannot say that ‘you are thereafter all’ or things like that. Yes, some players know that they are going to play, but at this point in time playing three ODIs in the West Indies was a good opportunity to look at a few guys. In the Asia Cup again, we will face good opposition," Sharma said.
Sharma then empathised with the injury issues of these players, stating that he knows how it feels after undergoing surgery. "Shreyas and KL are coming off not playing anything for four months, big injuries, surgeries rather. Both had surgeries. I know, I had to undergo surgery once and how it feels afterwards, it is quite tough. We have to see, how they respond, what they do," Sharma added.
There will be a selection meeting in a few days: Sharma
The captain also revealed that there will be a selection meeting coming in the coming days and there will be a lot of discussions around the combinations. "The selection (meeting) will be there in a few days, we will have a good debate about what we can do. But honestly, nobody is an automatic choice – they all have to fight for the spot... In the Asia Cup, I want to see some of the guys batting under pressure against quality teams.
"It is always nice to have a lot of names rather than just one or two. I hope they are fit in time; firstly, that is most important. They have been at NCA for four months, working really hard. It looks positive, fingers crossed," he concluded on the point.
