Team India announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 a couple of days ago via a press conference addressed by Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma. While there were little to no surprises in the squad as the selection committee left out Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna out of the squad that is currently in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup. However, quite a few former cricketers and experts have suggested a couple of changes in the squad that Team India should make looking at the balance of the side and the options available to them.
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was of the view that India needed to have someone like Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh in the squad for the World Cup. Speaking on Star Sports show 'Greatest Rivalry' alongside Shoaib Akhtar, Harbhajan said, "Two players are missing - (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Arshdeep (Singh) - the left arm seamer could have been very useful because he can give early wickets. You have seen that Shaheen Afridi and Mitchell Starc can create a very different kind of impact."
Shaheen Afridi was the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan against India in the first-round Asia Cup match including the two big scalps of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and the duo hasn't been able to solve the issue just yet. Harbhajan said that India have two left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel who will never play together and there could be a way to get both of them in the squad, Chahal, in particular.
"Yuzi Chahal is a proven match-winner, if he were playing for any other team in the world, he would have been in the first XI. He has proved himself time and time again and it is unfortunate that he missed out from the Indian side. We have picked up 2 left-arm spinners, who are never going to play together and if they have a lot of left-handers in the opposition, they might not play all together. I think Chahal and Arshdeep should have been in the team," he further added.
Akhtar too was of the same view as far as Chahal is concerned, however, the leg-spinner hasn't been a regular in the ODI side and missed all the six matches India played in the format before the Asia Cup.
