The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Team India Squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 on Tuesday and the 15-member squad includes wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan.
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (VC), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel for the World Cup has left out Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna, who are part of the Asia Cup squad and standby player Sanju Samson. Yuzvendra Chahal and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also failed to make the cut.
After showing no signs of injury upon his return, Jasprit Bumrah spearheads the bowling group. Pacers include Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj while Kuldeep Yadav will prove to be the leading spin option for Team India.
KL Rahul has staged a comeback with his inclusion in the World Cup squad after he missed out on the first two games against Pakistan and Nepal in the ongoing Asia Cup.
“There were a couple of fitness issues we had but all three players have come back, KL is looking good. We feel this squad gives us the best balance for this World Cup. KL looked really good there but picked up a niggle just before the Asia Cup. He has gotten over it. He is an important player for us and we are happy to have him,” said Chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
"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," said Team India captain Rohit Sharma.
All the teams have until September 28 to make any changes to the squad, after which any alterations will be subject to approval from ICC.
Meanwhile, former cricketer Virender Sehwag urged the BCCI to switch to 'Bharat' instead of 'India' on Team India jerseys for the ICC World Cup. He wrote on X (Twitter), "It has been long overdue to get our original name ‘Bharat’ back officially."