Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has questioned whether the National Cricket Academy (NCA) had released Indian batter Shreyas Iyer a little too quickly in order to make it to the team for the Asia Cup.
Speaking to Star Sports, Gambhir said "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.
“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?"
Shreyas Iyer had recently come back from a back injury and was again sidelined after suffering from back spasms before Team India's Super 4 clash against Pakistan.
Team India have until September 28 to submit the final squad and to make a decision on Iyer's spot in the World Cup as the batter is in a race against time.