Ahead of the first ODI against Australia in Sydney, India vice-captain Rohit Sharma has said that India's World Cup squad is pretty much settled barring fitness and injury concerns. Rohit feels the squad will be relatively the same to the one picked for the twin ODI series against Australia and New Zealand.
"I think the 13 ODIs we're going to be playing leading up to the World Cup, you're going to see more or less the same squad playing in the World Cup," Rohit said while addressing the media ahead of the ODI series opener in Sydney.
He also went on to say that selections would depend on form and thus one can’t take his place for granted.
"Probably one or two changes, keeping in mind the form and injury concerns over the next few months. We've played a lot of cricket throughout the year, so injuries are bound to happen. Don't think there'll be any drastic change. Looking at the slots - they're pretty much taken by individuals. Everything will depend on the form of each player, nobody is guaranteed that flight to England,” Sharma asserted.
"It's slightly early to be talking about the playing XI. But there aren't going to be any drastic changes We still have 13 games, 4-5 months to go and two months of IPL. Lot of cricket to be played. So it's hard to name the 11 or 12 that'll be playing the World Cup," he elaborated.
India left out Rishabh Pant and drafted Dinesh Karthik in the ODI squad for Australia and New Zealand series. Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and Umesh Yadav have also been snubbed from the team while Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya are set to return to the fold after recovering from their respective injuries.
Speedster Jasprit Bumrah has been rested with an eye on his workload. Bumrah, who played all the four Tests of the just concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, bowled 157.1 overs in the series and picked 21 wickets at an average of 17.
On the other hand, Australia would be without their fearsome pace trio – Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. But, Rohit feels their absence will not make the contest any less challenging.
"They don't play too much of ODI cricket, I think," Rohit said. "The last time we played in the format here, these guys (Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins) weren't playing and we were still beaten 4-1. Australia still have quality in their bowling. Of course those three are their premier bowlers but they've got guys who can do the job for them.
"They've got a bowling line-up who can put us under pressure without a doubt. They've been playing some limited-overs cricket, they've been doing well. It's not going to be a walkover situation for us. We've still got to grind it out there and make sure we put them under pressure. Team is high on confidence right now so we got to carry it it this format as well," he concluded.
