Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors for the Indian team, and Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian team, made the announcement of India’s 15-member roster for the upcoming ICC Odi World Cup 2023. The tournament is scheduled to begin on October 5, 2023, and would be the first time that India will be the lone host nation.
The most anticipated team was the one representing the nation that was hosting the tournament. This is because the BCCI selection committee had a lot of pressure on them to choose the finest team possible while still adhering to all of the requirements for modern-day 50-over demands.
While the composition of India’s squad was fairly consistent with what the vast majority of analysts and fans had anticipated, there were a few notable players that were left off the 15-man roster, which led to some unexpected reactions.
The following three players were unexpectedly left off of India’s Odi World Cup 2023 roster:
1. Prasidh Krishna
After being absent from the sport for more than a year, the tall and lanky Karnataka fast bowler Prasidh Krishna made his return for India in the Twenty20 International series against Ireland. Due to a back ailment that he sustained in August of 2022 while on tour in Zimbabwe, he was absent for a considerable amount of time.
He was required to have surgery in order to correct the condition, and then he underwent a lengthy rehabilitation process at the NCA. Prasidh Krishna had a successful record for India in one-day internationals (ODIs), accumulating 25 wickets over the course of 14 games with a best of 4/12. As a result of the pacer’s height, many people anticipated that he would be included in the Indian squad that would compete in the ICC World Cup 2023.
On the other hand, it appears that the presence of Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj, in addition to the return of Jasprit Bumrah, have prevented the BCCI from signing another pacer. Along with Hardik Pandya, the selection committee decided to go with Shardul Thakur as an additional option for a pace-allrounder. This was done in order to stretch the batting lineup.
2. Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson’s absence from the Indian batting lineup for the Odi World Cup 2023 was one of the most unexpected decisions made regarding the roster. The cricketer from Kerala has always been on the verge of securing his position in the Indian team for the long run, but his position has been hijacked by a few players who have been statistically more successful.
The BCCI selectors decided to go with KL Rahul as one of the wicketkeeping choices this time around. Rahul had been bothered by a groyne niggle, but the NCA just recently gave him the all-clear to play despite his fitness level. The other possibility is Ishan Kishan, who has been in excellent form with the bat, having scored four consecutive half-centuries in one-day internationals. The fact that he is a left-handed batsman provides the Indian side an advantage in the middle order against spinners bowled by other teams.
Samson would feel that it was unlucky of him not to be selected for the World Cup squad given that he was considered to be one of the keeping-batter alternatives along with Kishan and Rahul.
3. Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal, a leg-spinner, was one of the most notable players who did not make the cut for India’s World Cup roster. The BCCI selection committee decided to go with just one specialist spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, as well as two spin all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
Since quite some time ago, Chahal had dropped off the radar in one-day internationals, and he had not played a single game in the one-day international series against the West Indies either.
In light of the fact that he was not included in India’s roster for the Asia Cup 2023, there remained a remote possibility that he would be selected for the World Cup Indian team.