Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play pivotal part for India in 2023 World Cup, says Gautam Gambhir

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Former India player Gautam Gambhir says India will have to identify the players who can propel them towards a World Cup win.

India are set to host the ICC 50 overs World Cup later this year and the hosts will be aiming to get their hands on the trophy for the first time since 2011.

BCCI has reportedly shortlisted 20 players already and plans to give them optimum opportunities prior to the World Cup. And Gambhir says the men in Blue will have to delegate the roles of the players and identify them properly.

"First, you need to identify the players who got that fearless approach and probably in a format like 50 overs you need to have a mixture of every kind of player. There are players who can anchor their innings. Change in role has also made a huge difference. During that time we had only one new ball, now we've got two new balls with five fielders inside," Gambhir said on Star Sports show Road to World Cup.

"But, I always feel that when we talk about this new approach, which India always talks about, the template and stuff, you've got to identify players who can adapt those roles or that template very easily," he added.

Gambhir also believes that players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play a pivotal part in India's campaign. The pair haven't had the best of times in the recent past and will be keen to turn things around. And the former player thinks both Kohli's and Sharma's ability to dominate spin bowling can have a telling factor.

"So, for me, I think identifying players and at the same time getting the right mix is very important. I feel people like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and all those guys who can anchor their innings, who probably can play spin really well will play a massive role in the upcoming World Cup," Gambhir continued.

There have been many questions about the workload of the players. Several Indian players have suffered injuries or carried niggles in the past year or so. BCCI undertook the decision of managing the workload of the players and announced IPL franchises will be collaborating with them to monitor the stress level of the players.

And Gambhir believes this is the right direction and players must play more 50 over cricket, and if that warrants a break from IPL, must do so.

"If the franchisee has to suffer they have to suffer. Indian cricket is the main stake holder, not the IPL. IPL is just the by-product. So, if India goes out and wins the World Cup, that is the bigger ovation, that is the bigger ring.

For example, if an important player does miss the IPL games so be it, because IPL happens every year and the World Cup happens only once in four years. So, for me I think winning the World Cup is far more important than winning the IPL,” the two-time IPL champion with Kolkata Knight Riders concluded.

Gambhir was a key part of the India squads that won the 2007 T20 WC and 2011 WC. He scored the highest runs for India in both the finals as India beat Pakistan (2007 T20 WC) and Sri Lanka (2011 WC) in those finals under the captaincy of then-captain MS Dhoni.