In a major change to their team for the ICC World Cup 2023, India included veteran Ravichandran Ashwin in the place of Axar Patel in the final team on Thursday, September 28. India announced their final 15-member squad for the tournament and Ashwin managed to get a nod ahead of Washington Sundar to replace injured Axar Patel.
Axar was selected in India's initial squad but suffered a quadriceps strain during the Asia Cup 2023 campaign. Sundar was drafted in as his replacement in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka and was in contention to make India's World Cup squad if Axar failed to recover on time.
However, reports suggest that the left-arm spinner will be available for return after three more weeks and the World Cup starts on October 5. Ashwin made his return to 50-over cricket during the recently won ODI series against Australia and displayed his worth. His inclusion will be a major boost for India's spin department which possesses Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
India World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav
More to follow...
