With Asia Cup 2023 fast approaching, there are several unsolved questions in front of Team India. Will KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer be able to compete in Sri Lanka? If they are not, will they be considered for the World Cup 2023 right away? And also, will Virat Kohli give up his No 3 spot for Shubman Gill?
A day after it was reported that both KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are questionable for the Asia Cup because their bodies are not fully recovered to handle the demands of 50-over cricket, videos of the former doing keeping exercises went viral. This does not mean Rahul is fit to keep for 50 overs, but it has fans hoping for the right-hander’s return to the Indian team after a lengthy injury absence.
KL Rahul is critical to India’s preparations for the Asia Cup and World Cup. Despite his poor performances in T20Is and Tests, he remains India’s first-choice keeper-batter in ODIs. His numbers at No. 5 are among the best in recent memory.
Shreyas Iyer situation is a little more concerning. The right-hander is rehabilitating from a recurring back problem that forced him to miss the entire IPL 2023 season. According to sources, he will virtually certainly miss the Asia Cup. If that’s the case, he’ll only have three home games against Australia to show his fitness before the World Cup 2023.
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Virat Kohli may be asked to give up his No. 3 place
If Rahul and Iyer are ruled out of the Asia Cup, India may be forced to entirely restructure their batting order. Kishan must open if he plays. He has the data to back him up. But where does Shubman Gill bat if Kishan opens with captain Rohit?
In domestic cricket and in the start of his career, Gill batted at No. 3 or lower. If he is assigned to bat at No.3, Virat Kohli will have to vacate that position. That may be the most difficult decision in recent memory, given there is no better ODI cricketer at No.3 than Virat Kohli at present in international cricket. 10777 of his 12898 ODI runs have come when batting at No.3. At that position, Virat Kohli has 39 out of 46 ODI hundreds.
But, being the team player that Virat Kohli is, he would recognise the importance of having a solid No.4 if Iyer is unavailable.
Asking Gill to bat at that position in important tournaments such as the Asia Cup and World Cup may not be the best strategy. In that situation, Virat Kohli might fall to No. 5, followed by Hardik Pandya and either Samson or SKY at No. 6. If Rahul is healthy, which appears to be the more likely scenario, Hardik can bat at six.
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