BCCI had recently shortlisted 20 players for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023.
The Indian cricket team has already begun its preparations for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which will be played at home in October and November.
The BCCI reportedly shortlisted 20 players for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, but former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels the board hurried in finalizing the list, and even that the number of players chosen is not enough.
At the Annual General Meeting, the BCCI shortlisted 20 players and asked the team management to try them out in the upcoming ODIs to finalize a strong 15-man squad for the World Cup 2023.
However, the former Indian all-rounder believes that the BCCI should have made a bigger pool of players for the upcoming World Cup, keeping in mind the possible injuries, as the mega event is still nine months away.
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Speaking on Star Sports show Road to Glory, Irfan Pathan said: “World Cup is still nine months away, you can’t have just 20 players and rotate them and forget about rest. The coaches at the NCA are in direct contact with Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and the coaches (of Indian team).”
He continued, “There were 33 targeted players in their list apart from the contracted list that we have. So, that’s a big pool of players that we are talking about not just twenty.”
Pathan signed off by saying, “Twenty can’t be enough because if something goes wrong, be the injury or be their form…. because nine months is a long long time. So, you need a bigger pool of players.”
Cricbuzz reported that head coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, NCA head VVS Laxman, and chief selector Chetan Sharma brainstormed for nearly four hours in a Mumbai hotel before coming up with the list of players. BCCI president Roger Binny attended the meeting through video conferencing.