Former India cricketer and World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth has named two key players who have been left out of India’s ODI World Cup squad. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced a probables list of 20 players for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
The apex cricket board wants the management to rotate the players on the list in all bilateral series so that a ‘core team’ can be formed. Former cricketer Srikkanth discussed the probables list in depth with Star Sports, arguing that Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur should be left out.
“Two of the players won’t be in my list, Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur,” Srikkanth was quoted as saying by News18. It is worth mentioning that pacer Shardul did not play in the recently concluded ODI series against Bangladesh and does not feature in the squad of the forthcoming 50-over contest against Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, opener Shubman Gill has seen action since skipper Rohit Sharma was rested following the T20 World Cup 2022 and has been in good form. It remains to be seen whether the right-hander can maintain consistency in the One Day format. For the ODI series against Sri Lanka, he has been chosen ahead of veteran Shikhar Dhawan.
“I’m speaking as a chairman of selectors and not a fan” – Krishnamachari Srikkanth
Kris Srikkanth also stated that his team would include four pacers and rely on players who can win matches on their own. He also backed Deepak Hooda, who can bowl his part-time off-spinners in the middle overs and provide an extra bowling option, to make the team.
“If you want my medium pacers, they would be- (Jasprit) Bumrah, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj. Four medium pacers are enough. (Mohammed) Shami would be a so-so. I’m speaking as a chairman of selectors and not a fan, I would instead bring in (Deepak) Hooda. And I believe these are the guys that will win matches, what do you want? You want to win matches, you need horses like Yusuf Pathan who will win you matches single handedly,” said the former Indian selector.
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