India to play Australia on October 8 in Chennai in their World Cup 2023 opener.
Currently, the Men in Blue side is playing in the Asia Cup 2023, where their first encounter against Pakistan got washed out due to rain, though Rohit Sharma and co. batted after winning the toss and posted 266 runs.
If a report from Indian Express is to be believed then, chief selector Ajit Agarkar met Indian captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid on Saturday to finalize the team. The meeting held after the India vs. Pakistan tie in the Asia Cup was washed out at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy.
The India World Cup squad is reportedly similar to the one that is playing in Asia Cup 2023. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Ishan Kishan have been picked as openers. Kishan is expected to be the backup keeper as well.
The other batters are Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, and KL Rahul, who passed the fitness test and is reportedly going to join the Indian team in Sri Lanka shortly.
All-rounders Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, and Shardul Thakur have retained their spots in the Indian squad. In the bowling department, the pace attack comprises Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
Kuldeep Yadav is the sole specialist spinner to make it in the squad.
The names of Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna were missing from the reported squad picked by Agarkar, Rohit, and Dravid, as the team management opted for experience in the crucial World Cup event.
The report also stated that the BCCI wanted to keep the selection meeting on September 4, a day before the ICC’s deadline for squad announcement. But Rahul getting cleared by the medical team prompted the selectors to take the final call.
Reported India World Cup 2023 squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
(Indian Express report)