As vice captain, Hardik Pandya. The list did not contain R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tilak Varma, or Prasidh Krishna.
India has announced the composition of their 15-man team for the ICC World Cup, which will begin in October. The team will be led by Rohit Sharma, who will be joined by Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. Hardik Pandya will serve as the vice captain of the Rohit Sharma-captained team. KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah have also been added to the roster. Along with Rahul, Kishan continues to play as one of the team’s two wicketkeeper-batters.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Sanju Samson, however, were not included in the lineup. Ajith Agarkar, head of the BCCI selectors, stated that India will not alter their 15-person list unless there are any injuries.
Rahul is among the 17 players in our pool, and we have backup measures in place. The selection of the 15 people who can effectively perform the work at hand is our main priority. KL Over the past two days, Rahul has participated in a few games and has held the wicket for all 50 overs. He must be prepared. There have been conversations regarding spinners, and both provide depth in both bowling and batting, as well as taking the ball away. Although an off-spinner would have been ideal, this provides balance. With the bowlers we have, we are satisfied,” Agarkar said on Tuesday.
He added: “We had a couple of fitness issues that we had to look at, but all three [Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer] who had long-term injuries have come through,” India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar said. “KL is looking good. We feel this gives us the best balance to try and do well. With KL he was part of the camp in Bangalore, he looked really good there has got over his niggle. He played a couple of games over the last two days. I think he kept for 50 overs and batted for around 50 overs too, so he looks good and we’re happy to have him.”
Rahul tore a tendon in his right thigh during the IPL 2023 and had to have surgery in May. He played his final ODI in March 2023. Additionally, he was chosen for the Asia Cup team. India captain Rohit Sharma said the 50-over format is different. “The format of playing 9 league games (we played it in 2019) is unique. There’s always change to make a comeback. We saw how England did it and won the World Cup last year. It does give you extra time to think about combinations, teams’ strategies and plans. It gives you breathing space,” said Sharma.
