India World Cup Squad Announced 2023: Rohit to lead; Rahul, Suryakumar, Shardul included; Samson left out India ODI World Cup Squad 2023
KL Rahul, Shardul Thakur and Suryakumar Yadav were included as India announced its 15-member squad for the home World Cup. Sanju Samson, Prasidh Krishna and Tilak Varma were left out
Suryakumar Yadav has managed to hold onto his ODI spot as India announced an expected 15-man squad for next month’s World Cup. With KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer recently making a return to the 50-over setup after recovering from their long-term injuries, it seemed to be a three-way tussle between Suryakumar, newcomer Tilak Varma and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson for the backup middle order slot – a race the 32-year-old has won.
Suryakumar, the world’s No.1 batter in T20Is, has struggled to recreate the impact in ODI cricket for a while now having not scored a fifty in his last 18 innings. He has also donned multiple roles in the middle order in the absence of Rahul and Iyer recently, with the team management continuing to back the swashbuckling batter.
As reported on Monday (September 4), there were no concerns surrounding Rahul’s spot in the squad for the marquee event even though he didn’t travel to Sri Lanka for the group stages of the Asia Cup. The 31-year-old managed to prove his fitness while batting and keeping recently while continuing his rehabilitation at the NCA.
The squad is largely on expected lines with Tilak, Samson and Prasidh Krishna missing the cut from the group that has travelled to Sri Lanka for the ongoing Asia Cup. Prasidh and Jasprit Bumrah had recently made their return from long-term injuries as well but only the latter has made it to the final 15 as expected. Bumrah is joined by Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur in the fast-bowling department apart from allrounder Hardik Pandya. With batting depth proving to be an area of concern for India in limited-overs cricket, Shardul seems to have edged out Prasidh in India’s final 15.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who was left out for the Asia Cup, continues to be sidelined with Kuldeep Yadav chosen as the sole wrist spinner in the squad. Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the other two spin options. Ishan Kishan, who scored a crucial half-century to bail India out of trouble in their opening fixture of the Asia Cup against Pakistan, retains his spot as the backup wicketkeeper-batter in the squad.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
