India has announced its squad for the upcoming home World Cup and in a notable move, fit-again KL Rahul has been included while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been left out. The 15-man squad consists of no major surprises.
Rahul, who suffered a thigh injury in May and has not played competitively since then, is set to join the team in Sri Lanka for the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup. This comeback is a significant boost for the Indian team.
Ishan Kishan, who has been in excellent form with four consecutive half-centuries in one-day internationals, is leading the race for the wicketkeeper’s position. His left-handed batting skills have played a role in his selection. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar expressed his satisfaction with the options available: “It’s a good headache to have, isn’t it? Ishan played a lovely innings in the Asia Cup, can open the innings … KL’s one-day record is fantastic. So when he comes, there will be conversations but you at least have two options now.”
The squad, led by Rohit Sharma, features only one frontline wrist-spinner, Kuldeep Yadav. It also includes spin all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Notably, Ashwin, who remains India’s preferred spinner in Test cricket, did not make the cut. Agarkar explained the decision, stating, “Both give us depth in batting. In 50 overs cricket, perhaps you would ideally want an off-spinner but this gives us the best balance.”
Rohit Sharma is pleased with the depth in his squad but emphasized the need for more contributions from India’s tailenders: “We found this lacking in our team for the last few years, so we wanted to make sure that we get that batting depth somehow.” Agarkar echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of tailenders contributing with the bat.
India, a two-time champion, will commence its World Cup campaign on October 8th with a match against Australia in Chennai.
The India squad for the World Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav