Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has shed light on the team’s 15-man squad for the World Cup, which was picked by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel on Tuesday. Rohit reckons this is the best 15 they could have picked and they had to make some tough calls to leave out players like Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Earlier, Rohit had mentioned that they wanted depth in their batting and thus the team didn’t pick Chahal in the ongoing Asia Cup. In fact, Rohit was not picked in the 2011 World Cup squad and understands how it feels to be left out of the big event.
“There are no surprises and you can get only 15 in. Some of the guys will be disappointed. I have gone through it and I know how it feels. We have good all-round options and this is best 15 we could get,” Sharma said in the press conference.
The Indian skipper added they will have to play their best combination according to the conditions and the opposition in the ODI showpiece.
“I have not thought about plans yet. The problem of plenty is a good problem to have. We have to see who is in form and who our opposition is. We need to see what the best possible combination could be. If someone misses out, then so be it. This keeps happening. You have to make tough calls for the team,” he further added.
On the other hand, former Indian veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh was surprised at the exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal.
“Surprised not to see Yuzvendra Chahal in the World Cup squad for Team India. Pure Match winner,” Harbhajan wrote on X, previously Twitter.
India will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on October 8.
India’s Squad for ODI World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
