It’s the D-Day for World Cup squad submission is here. While the BCCI Selection Committee did announce the India squad for World Cup 2023, it can still make changes until Sep 28 without any approval from ICC’s technical committee. The big question is on Axar Patel. Is he fit? As things stand, Ravichandran Ashwin is likely to be added to the main squad with Axar Patel serving in the reserves. India have not named any reserves as they don’t need to as the host.
India Cricket Team can call up players with approval from the ICC’s technical committee for the World Cup as a replacement for any injured player.
BCCI Selection Committee chairman Ajit Agrkar had a long discussion with captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid after the practice session ahead of India vs Australia 3rd ODI. What the trio discussed is anyone’s guess but surely, Axar Patel’s name definitely popped up.
Axar Patel suffered a left quadriceps strain against Bangladesh in Asia Cup. He was sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. While there were hopes that he would be fit for the 3rd ODI against Australia, he has not recovered sufficiently.
Now with 48 hours left before India take on England in the first warm-up game on Sep 30, will he be fit? As per BCCI insiders, he is on track to be fit. Considering he is only a backup option to Ravindra Jadeja and the chances of him playing alongside Jadeja are rare, Team India can afford to keep him in the squad.
World Cup: Ashwin vs Axar
Ideally, it would be no no-brainer to have Ashwin in the World Cup squad. But Ashwin has not been in ODI plans for long and Axar has taken his chances with match-winning performances. But with Axar Patel injured, Team India sent an SOS to Ravichandran Ashwin for the Australia series.
While Ashwin did start slowly and looked rusty in the first ODI, he bounced back in the second ODI in Indore. He bagged three wickets in a span of seven deliveries including three big names David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Josh Inglis to prove he is ready.
And as a result, with Axar Patel ruled out of the third ODI, Team India did not even try Ashwin. Now, it’s decision time for ICC World Cup.
- Axar Patel is a like-for-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja.
- The left-arm spinner hasn’t had many bowling opportunities and hasn’t been a wicket-taking bowler either.
- But if he does play, his batting becomes handy. With the team lacking any serious batting firepower from No 8, he could be an option.
- As for Ashwin, he brings in the x-factor. The off-spinner understands Indian conditions like no other.
- At home, Ashwin has 69 ODI wickets 337 Test wickets and 22 scalps in T20Is.
- In terms of experience and ability to turn the ball, there is no match.
- However, he hasn’t quite established himself as a great white-ball batter and that can go against him.
India Squad for World Cup 2023
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
WKs: Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul
Seam all-rounders: Hardik Pandya (VC), Shardul Thakur
Spin all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel
Seamers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav
India’s World Cup 2023 Schedule
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