Suryakumar Yadav Secures Spot in India’s 15-Man World Cup Squad
Newzdaddy Cricket Updates
To my surprise, In the announcement of India’s anticipated 15-man squad for the upcoming World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav has successfully retained his spot in the ODI team. This selection followed the return of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer to the 50-over format after recovering from their injuries. It appeared to be a three-way contest between Suryakumar, newcomer Tilak Varma, and wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson for the backup middle-order position, which the 32-year-old Suryakumar has now secured.
Despite being the world’s top T20I batter, Suryakumar has faced challenges in making a similar impact in ODI cricket lately, having not scored a fifty in his last 18 innings.
In the absence of Rahul and Iyer, he has taken on various roles in the middle order, and the team management continues to have faith in his aggressive batting style.
KL Rahul’s inclusion in the World Cup squad was never in doubt, despite his absence during the Asia Cup’s group stages in Sri Lanka. The 31-year-old demonstrated his fitness while batting and keeping, further affirming his spot in the team during his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
The squad’s composition largely aligns with expectations, with Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, and Prasidh Krishna missing out from the group currently in Sri Lanka for the ongoing Asia Cup. Both Prasidh and Jasprit Bumrah recently returned from long-term injuries, but only Bumrah has made it to the final 15, as predicted.
The fast-bowling department features Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Given India’s concerns about their batting depth in limited-overs cricket, Shardul appears to have secured his place over Prasidh in the final squad.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who was excluded from the Asia Cup, remains sidelined, with Kuldeep Yadav selected as the sole wrist spinner in the squad. The spin options also include Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Ishan Kishan, who played a crucial innings to rescue India in their Asia Cup opener against Pakistan, continues as the backup wicketkeeper-batsman in the squad.
The noninclusion of R. Ashwin is also a continued surprise for me as looking to the Indian pitches and conditions, R. Ashwin could have been a major asset and a weapon for Team India. As he gives more variety to the spin department. Looking to the current selected squad, all three spinners are left-handers. The selection of R. Ashwin would have added more variety to the team. This is just my personal opinion.
Indian Squad for ICC World Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
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