'Rest' not right word to justify Yuvraj exclusion: Gambhir

"I don't think 'rest' is the right word because he (Yuvraj) hasn't played any cricket for quite a while and he would be wanting to play. If you want to see him at the World Cup, he should be given the maximum opportunity. Because, someone like Yuvraj, you want him in that flow, you want him in that rhythm. You can't have someone like him playing in one series and resting thereafter," Gambhir said.

"So, I feel that it's difficult now for Yuvraj to make a comeback. Hopefully, he does because he is one of the greats of the game," Gambhir said.

Earlier, Prasad has said that Yuvraj hasn't been dropped and he was still in the scheme of things as far as the national team was concerned. "Yuvraj has been rested. Doors are never closed on anybody. Everybody has got a right to play cricket. It's their passion. They are chasing their passion. In terms of selection, we try to select the best possible team.

"Discussions happen about everybody. It is not just MS Dhoni (or anybody else). When we pick, when we talk about combinations, we talk about everybody," he said.

Prasad went on to compare Yuvi to Andre Agassi. The chief selector said that if Yuvraj delivers, he can keep playing.

"Whenever a player keeps ageing, for example, I was just reading Agassi's book, Open, his life actually started after 30 years. Till then he won two or three titles. His actual life started after that. He lived with media pressure, 'When are you going to retire?' But he played till 36 and he won so many Grand Slams. So you never know," he said. "We don't say it is an automatic thing but we are all stakeholders."