The senior national selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup. KL Rahul was included in the team, while Sanju Samson did not make the cut. The committee chairman, Ajit Agarkar, traveled to Sri Lanka to meet with Indian captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid to finalize the squad. This meeting occurred after the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup match in Kandy, which was affected by rain.
In addition to Samson, Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna, who are currently in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, were also not selected for the World Cup squad. Rohit Sharma will lead the team, and Ishan Kishan, who performed well in the middle order, secured a spot in the squad.
Key batsmen for India in the tournament will include Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav. The squad emphasizes batting depth, including allrounders like Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Shardul Thakur.
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and spinner Kuldeep Yadav will lead India’s pace attack. Rahul’s fitness was discussed, and he was included in the squad after receiving clearance from the medical team. Rahul had been recovering from a right thigh surgery and had been out of action for over three months.
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Initially, the BCCI planned to hold the selection committee meeting on September 4, a day before the deadline to submit the World Cup squad to the ICC. However, they decided to proceed earlier after Rahul’s fitness was confirmed, and he will join the Indian team in the Asia Cup.
A few weeks ago, Agarkar had mentioned that Rahul had a minor injury, which led to the selection of Sanju Samson as a backup option.