Ever since Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his return to the Indian national cricket team, all eyes have been on another experienced fast bowler, Mohammed Shami. While a large portion of the Indian cricket fans are expecting a returning Shami in the national team setup ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar backed another senior cricketer.

After the India vs West Indies 5th T20I, which was washed out due to rain in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 17, Sunil Gavaskar put his remarks in favour of Bhuvneshwar Kumar's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Krunal Pandya.

Krunal Pandya was vital for RCB in the IPL 2025 and IPL 2026 seasons

Like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya played a vital role behind RCB's trophy-winning campaigns in the 2025 and 2026 IPL seasons. Krunal was one of the key figures when the Bengaluru-based franchise claimed their maiden IPL trophy and then successfully defended their title in the following season. In both seasons, Krunal Pandya, a spin bowling all-rounder, delivered well both with ball and bat when the team needed him the most.

Purely based on Krunal Pandya's performance in the recent past, Sunil Gavaskar supported the all-rounder for a national team comeback. Krunal last featured for Team India in 2021 during the tour of Sri Lanka.

Krunal Pandya's performance for RCB in 2025 and 2026

In the IPL 2026 season, Krunal took 14 wickets from 16 matches at an average of 30.35 and an economy rate of 8.45 and got 226 runs with the bat, including scoring a match-defining half-century against his former IPL club Mumbai Indians.

In the previous season, the allrounder bagged 17 wickets in 15 matches with an economy rate of 8.23 and scored 109 runs in 7 innings as well.

Sunil Gavaskar explains why Krunal Pandya deserves a national team recall

Speaking to JioStar, Sunil Gavaskar expressed that Krunal is not among the big turners of the ball but is smart enough to mix his line and length well to put the batters on the wrong foot.

"Outstanding cricketer, really one of the smart cricketers that we've seen. Somebody,dy you see his bowling. He's not a big turner of the ball, but he mixes his line, mixes his lengths so smartly; ly, he reads the batter's mind, bowls at the pads. You've seen him bowl the odd bouncer as well, so he's always thinking and plotting against the batter, if not to get him out, at least to restrict him," said Gavaskar.

Keeping the demands of white-ball cricket in mind, the former Team India captain also noted that alongside the bowling skills, Krunal is capable of supporting the team with his energetic fielding in the deep and a handy batter from the lower order.

"And then as a batter, as a fielder in the deep, he's an outstanding cricketer, and I do believe that if you want to win the World Cups, you just go with the guys who you think will win the World Cup," Sunil Gavaskar continued.