Ajit Agarkar led selection committee picked the 15 member provisional squad for the upcoming 50 over world cup scheduled in India, starting 5 October to 19 November 2023. Rohit Sharma was named the captain of the squad and he will be under tremendous pressure to get India another ICC trophy as the title of being a “choker” has been with Indian team in the recent while.
In a press conference in Pallekele, Ajit Agarkar announced the squad and it is the same 15 men who are playing the Asia Cup in 2023. There were discussions on the inclusion of spinners like Washington Sundar and R Ashwin who can bowl off-spin but they were not picked in the squad. Having a left arm pacer can be an asset for the team but selectors didn’t had any discussions on Arshdeep Singh.
World cup squad
Top order– Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma are the two openers in the team and they will be followed by Virat Kohli at number three.
Middle order– Shreyas Iyer will be an ideal choice to bat at number four. KL Rahul, who is yet to recover from an injury completely was named in the squad alongside Ishan Kishan, who will be the two wicket-keeper option in the team. Suryakumar Yadav is the back up option in the middle order.
All-Rounders– Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the two spin bowling all-rounders in the team and they will play an ideal role on the Indian pitches. Shardul Thakur and vice skipper Hardik Pandya will be the two fast bowling all-rounder in the team.
Spinners– Kuldeep Yadav is the lone spinner in the team and he will have a job in his hands to spin the web around the batsman in the world cup.
Fast bowlers– Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah will be the powerful Indian fast bowling trio.
Rohit Sharma said this is India’s best squad- “We explored every conceivable avenues and possibilities to assemble the strongest team. It’s inevitable that some players will miss out on World Cup selection. With the wealth of talent available in India, narrowing it down to just 15 players is a challenging task. We believe we have selected the best possible squad of 15”.
