Sourav Ganguly served up some surprises as he shared his 15-man India squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 which will be hosted by the country for the first time in sole capacity from October 5 onwards.
Ganguly had captained India to the 2003 World Cup tournament and still holds the record for the highest individual score by an Indian in World Cups- 183 vs. Sri Lanka in 1999.
The expected Indian lineup for the World Cup is going to have a mix of young talent with experienced players and promises an exciting tournament.
Meanwhile, Ganguly threw a huge surprise as he left out Sanju Samson and current hot favorite Tilak Varma from his final 15-member India squad. He also omitted pacer Prasidh Krishna from his World Cup squad.
Sourav Ganguly went with a robust batting line up of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan in top order and then had experience of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer along with Suryakumar Yadav in the middle order.
Kishan and Rahul were named as the wicketkeeping options by Ganguly, while Hardik Pandya was named the vice-captain. Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel were the spin all-rounder options, while Kuldeep Yadav was the sole pure spinner in the squad.
For the fast-bowling contingent, Ganguly picked Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur.
India will open its World Cup 2023 campaign on October 8 against Australia in Chennai and will face Pakistan in the big-ticket match on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
Sourav Ganguly’s 15-member India ODI World Cup 2023 squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur
