India's squad announcement for ICC World Cup Highlights: Surya, Rahul in; Samson out as India name squad

Wow, what a fascinating day it was. India have named a strong-looking 15-member squad for the tournament. Suryakumar manages to keep his place from Tilak Varma. Prasidh falls behind Shardul and Shami. No Samson as India go with Kishan and Rahul. Teams can make changes to their squads until September 28 without needing approval from the ICC. The Men in Blue will focus on the upcoming Asia Cup assignments but these players will want to be in the best shape for the World Cup. On that note, we leave you here. I Varun Malik sign off, hope you have enjoyed it.

India's initial squad for WC

Aakash Chopra is happy to have predicted the same squad. Have a look.

"There was talk (on off-spinners). Eventually you have to decide who gives will be better. This gives us the best balance. Discussions happen but Kuldeep takes the ball away. This is a quality attack,"

"Yes, there is every probability that these two can play together. Everyone's available to play. The selection depends upon who the opposition will be," Sharma.

"We need to create both bowling and batting depth. It was important to get depth in both. Number 8 and number 9 positions become crucial. We saw in the first game in Asia Cup, we fell short in the back end. It shows what the job of 8,9,10,11 is. Their job is not only to bowl," Rohit adds.

"It's good thing if people are fighting for their spots. It is challenging. We have to look at who is in form, what opposition is infront, who will benefit more; we look at all these factors and decide upon the team for matches. This happens in Cricket, we have to make tough calls. What is good for us on a given day, we do that," Rohit.

"We looked at all the ways to look at how to get the players in. There will be some missing out and that happens every time. We can fit only 15 players. We looked at how to create a good balance and this is the best we could get," Sharma on India's squad.

Agarkar on KL, Kishan:

"It's a nice headache to have. Kishan played very well. We are happy to have two options, which will fight for a spot in the team. The coach and the captain will decide (who will play),"

Agarkar opened on the fitness issues of the trio.

"A lot of the guys picked themselves. There were some fitness issues, which we had to look into. All the three guys are okay. This squad gives us the best balance," he said. He added, "Rahul has played a couple of games over the last two days (practice games)."

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav

Players excluded - Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna.

We get the live visuals of Rohit and Agarkar sitting infront of the media. Here we go guys.

Less than thre minutes remain and the press conference will begin any time guys. It's getting so exciting.

Only Australia and England have named their squads for ICC World Cup 2023

Just like they did it for the Asia Cup, captain Rohit Sharma and national chief selector Ajit Agarkar will address the media in some time. 

It's 1 PM guys, the time we were waiting for ever since the morning. It's the time to name the squad for the world cup. The show has began on Star Sports and the press conference will begin at 1:30 PM. But stay tuned, the experts will be analysing the teams.

Experts are weighing more on Kishan over Rahul. He would be tough to be overlooked.

In some other part of the world, New Zealand confirmed that Kane Williamson will be named in their World Cup squad.

Meanwhile, Rohit made a big claim after India's win over Nepal. He stated that the World Cup 15 was already decided before the Asia Cup.

However, Sharma added in the same conference that doors are not closed for Chahal, Ashwin and Washington Sundar. Will that happen today? 

"Having said that, No door is not closed for anyone at this point in time. Anyone can come in at any time. Chahal has played a lot of white-ball cricket, if we feel like we need him for the World Cup, we can try and see how we can squeeze him. So is the case with Ashwin and Washi. The option is open to everyone," Sharma added in that conference.

Is anyone there for Chahal? He last played an ODI game back in January 2023 when India faced New Zealand at home and was not picked for the Asia Cup squad. While announcing India's Asia Cup team, Rohit and chief selector shed light on why he was excluded from the team.

"We had a deep discussion about an off-spinner. And about a leg-spinner as well. Where the thing actually boils down is, the batting option at No. 8 and No. 9. Chahal has to miss out because we can only get 17 players there. The only way we could have done that (brought him in) is by taking one of the seamers out," Sharma said in a press conference last month.

Former Aussie cricketer Matthew Hayden recently picked his Indian World Cup squad. Have a look.

Here are the stats of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma in middle order in ODIs.

It has to be noted that this World Cup squad is provisional and any number of changes can be made till September 27. India will be playing a three-match ODI series against later this month and if any player uinfortunately gets injured, the selectors can make changes before finalising the squad for World Cup.

Here's Jaffer's squad for WC. As earlier mentioned, Tilak in place of SKY.

Jaffer and Uthappa also opened on the debate between who should be India's number 1 wicket-keeper choice for the World Cup. "Ishan Kishan will be the first one to get picked in the XI. If KL gets fit, he will be the reserve keeper," Jaffer said in a chat with ESPNCricinfo. "To be honest, KL might just come straight into the XI when he is fit. (But) It will put pressure on him to perform well with Kishan waiting in the wings," Uthappa argued in the same show.

Jaffer also picked Tilak Varma over Suryakumar Yadav. "Yes, I would pick Tilak Varma as well. Same reason as he is a left-hander. And I think his game suits more as compared to Surya. SKY is phenomenal in T20s but plays too many shots for 50 over cricket," Jaffer said in the same panel.

Former cricketer Uthappa opened on India's middle order choices. On being asked on who will be the two among SKY, Tilak and Shreyas to feature in WC squad, he left Suryakumar out. "I have said this before, tilak Varma and Shreyas Iyer. Suryakumar will have to miss out. He will be there in reserves," Uthappa said to ESPNCricinfo.

What about this news guys?

Harsha Bhogle's suggestion on the Rahul vs Kishan debate

Meanwhile, take a look at how Rohit and Gill powered India into the Super Four in Asia Cup

Axar Patel is touted as the best back-up for Ravindra Jadeja. Kuldeep and Jadeja are the front-runners in the spin department as the former has improved a lot in 2023, while the latter is effective as ever. India might want to have Patel as a backup, considering the World Cup is in India but is it a priority to have Patel as a backup? In India's recent matches, experts argued that he can be called anytime if Jadeja is injured or needs rest as he won't have to travel abroad.

Ghosh these selection calls are tough guys. Bumrah and Siraj are the front-runners in the pace attack, while Mohammed Shami looks to be the third one. It then boils down between one of Shardul or Prasidh. One offers wickets at crucial time and handy batting down the order (Shardul), the other offers troubling bounce (Prasidh). Can be another tough call!

Another big call that has to be made is between Suryakumar, Tilak Varma, and Sanju Samson. Two of them are likely to be picked but who will be the two? The top order shall feature, Rohit, Gill, and Kohli. Iyer should be at 4 with Rahul/Kishan at 5. But one or two of SKY, Varma, and Samson should be backups. But that's a big thing the team management and the selectors need to decide upon.

India are facing some pressing questions and need to find the answers soon. The new one they are hit with is who is the first wicket-keeper choice? Rahul has helped India in trouble situations at number 5 in ODIs and Kishan was as good as anyone at the same spot against Pakistan. The debates over whether Kishan can bat in the middle order look to be put to bed.

Meanwhile, India thumped Nepal in their second game of Group A in the Asia Cup and have secured a place in the Super Four. They will take on Pakistan in their first Super Four game on September 10. Goosebumps guaranteed for Sunday, September 10.

Some brilliant cricket minds will talk about the Indian squad.

Can we skip the morning and go to 1 PM? I wished we could do it! But for you to know, Star Sports will air a show called 'Selection Day' live from 1 PM IST onwards. It is learned that BCCI will do a press conference live where the squad will be named. Several experts will also mark their presence on the Star Sports' show to analyse the Indian team for the biggest carnival of cricket.

It's September 5 guys. The day we celebrate teachers day and can also associate it with a popular scene in the Bollywood movie '3 Idiots'. But the date is important for crores of Indian cricket fans in another perspective in 2023. The Indian team will be announced today in the afternoon and we are eagerly waiting for that to happen. India are currently playing in the Asia Cup with an eye on the World Cup and now they will take a big step towards their dreams on September 5.