India announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup on Tuesday, September 5 and it led to a wide array of reactions from the fans across the globe. While a few inclusions triggered debates, the non-selection of a lot of players raised a few eyebrows as well.
KL Rahul has been included in the squad despite not having played a single game for the country since March 22. Rahul was a part of the team that took on Australia at home in a three-match ODI series. He led Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League after the series before getting ruled out of the tournament due to a thigh injury.
Rahul recently joined the team in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup after passing a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Prasidh Krishna, Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson (Reserve) who are currently a part of India's Asia Cup squad have not been included in the 15-player team for the marquee tournament.
Netizens across social media platforms have raised questions on Rahul's fitness. With limited games left before India's World Cup opener versus Australia in Chennai on October 8, there are concerns whether Rahul can get back to his personal best in time or not. Addressing the same queries, India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar mentioned that Rahul's fitness looked really good in the recent camp that was organised in Karnataka and the team management is happy with how he is shaping up.
"We had a couple of fitness issues that we had to look at, but all three [Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer], who had long-term injuries have come through."
"KL is looking good. We feel this gives us the best balance to try and do well. With KL, he was part of the camp in Bangalore, he looked really good there, has got over his niggle. He played a couple of games over the last two days. I think he kept for 50 overs and batted for around 50 overs too, so he looks good and we're happy to have him," said Agarkar in a press conference.
A section of fans is unhappy that star leggie Yuzvendra Chahal has not been included in the squad. Chahal has been a match-winner for India in ODIs and hence fans feel that his absence might hurt the team.
India TV conducted a poll on its platforms and asked, "Indian squad for World Cup 2023 announced. Will India become World Champions with this team?"
We received an overwhelming response from fans and the results suggest that the majority of the participants believe that India will clinch the World Cup trophy with the help of the 15 players that have been picked for the marquee tournament. Close to five thousand people participated in the poll to make their opinion count.
Indian squad for World Cup 2023 announced. Will India become World Champions with this team?
Yes - 63.09%
No - 27.24%
Can't say - 9.67%
