As per the reports, the senior national selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) picked the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup. KL Rahul secured a spot in the team. In addition to Samson, Tilak Varma, and Prasidh Krishna, who are currently in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, they were also not included in the World Cup squad. Sanju Samson missed out on selection.
Chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, flew to Sri Lanka to meet Indian captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, where they finalized the squad. This meeting occurred after the India vs. Pakistan Asia Cup match in Kandy, which was unfortunately abandoned after the first innings.
Apart from Samson, Varma, and Krishna, who are participating in the Asia Cup, they also did not make it to the World Cup squad. The team will be captained by Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan, who has shown excellent performance in the middle-order, secured a spot in the squad.
The core of India’s batting lineup in the multi-nation tournament will feature Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav. The squad also includes allrounders Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Shardul Thakur, emphasizing batting depth.
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack, while spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also been included in the squad. The selection committee thoroughly discussed Rahul’s fitness, and after receiving clearance from the medical team, he was included in the squad. Rahul has been diligently training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and is expected to join the Indian team in the Asia Cup held in Lanka.
The BCCI had a deadline of September 5 to submit the final World Cup squad to the International Cricket Council (ICC). They initially planned to hold the selection committee meeting on the evening of September 4 but expedited the process after Rahul’s medical clearance, recognizing the urgency.
Rahul, a key player in the starting XI who may also serve as the wicketkeeper in the World Cup, had undergone surgery on his right thigh and had been sidelined for the past three and a half months. Agarkar had previously mentioned that Rahul had suffered a minor injury, leading to Sanju Samson’s selection as a backup option during a press conference a few weeks ago.
Agarkar made an exclusive statement on Rahul: “Shreyas is being declared completely fit while KL Rahul has picked up a niggle. It is not his original injury and that’s why Sanju is travelling with us. We are all expecting him to be fit, if not at the start of the Asia Cup but maybe the second and third game but he is well on track. They are two important players and since we are not picking the team for the World Cup teams till September 5, it gives us some time.”
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