'Why not Shreyas Iyer?; Former India spinner questions Shreyas' inclusion in India squad for World Cup

India have finally announced their squad for the ICC World Cup 2023. The 15-member team was named on Tuesday (September 5) and that has seen a few big names omitted.

Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson have missed out in the squad, while KL Rahul has retained his place despite being sidelined with injury for a long time. The wicketkeeper-batter is also part of the Asia Cup squad but didn't take part in the first two games as his recovery was not complete.

The chief selector Ajit Agarkar stressed the importance of KL Rahul and has now shown immense faith in him. Rahul's inclusion meant the Mangalore-born replaced Sanju Samson from the team.

Ishan Kishan is also part of the India squad for World Cup and there has been strong debates over India's potential starter in the World Cup. While Rahul has been a scorer in the past, recent form suggests Kishan may get the nod ahead of Rahul.

Amid the discussions, former India spinner Piyush Chawla finds it difficult how all the talks are regarding Rohit and Kishan and there is no mention of Shreyas Iyer at all. Iyer also suffered a long-term back injury and has found his place in the World Cup squad.

"We are talking about both of them, why not Shreyas Iyer? Shreyas Iyer's place should also be questioned. Ishan cannot remain in the reserves now because of the way he has batted in the top order," Chawla was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

Chawla also justified his claim of Kishan coming into the starting lineup. The southpaw scored a brilliant 82 off 81 balls against Pakistan and has been a prolific run getter in the 50-over format.

"People had a question about how he would bat in the middle order and the way he batted in the middle order after coming into bat in a tough situation, he is going through good form and he solves the problem of the absence of a left-hander in the middle order, which we often talk about," he added.

Both Iyer and Rahul are untested for a long period of time and will have to earn their way back into the squad. It is to be seen how the duo perform in the upcoming matches as we enter the final five weeks before start of the tournament.

India kickstart the World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8. Before that they are playing the ongoing Asia Cup tournament and will also play Australia in a home ODI series.