India’s World Cup 20-man roster: A look at the names that may have made the cut | Cricket

The 2023 ODI World Cup kicks off in October this year and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started the squad building for it by drawing up a 20-man shortlist for the final squad. These players will be monitored before the tournament and the National Cricket Academy (NCA) will also coordinate with their Indian Premier League (IPL) squad during the 2023 T20 tournament to ensure they avoid injury.

While the table didn’t reveal the names of the players on the roster, let’s take a look at the ones most likely to be in the 20-person roster.

1- Rohit Sharma (Captain): Rohit may have had the least productive years of his career last year, but he is the captain and it has been made clear that his position is not in jeopardy. It’s hard to see any other player opening the innings before him.

2- Ishan Kishan: The Jharkhand batsman’s record double century against Bangladesh has put him ahead of all other contenders along with Rohit.

3 – Shubman Gill/Shikhar Dhawan: Gill was seen as the second seed for the opening slot, but Kishan’s record show has clearly relegated him to third. As does Shikhar Dhawan, whose status as India’s long-term opener alongside Rohit appears to be gone as he has been dropped from the team’s upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

4- Virat Kohli: The former captain has achieved the most success in ODIs in his prolific career. He’s looking to replicate some of that now that he’s finally ended his centuries-long drought in this form.

5- Shreyas Iyer: Iyer has easily been India’s best ODI scorer during 2022. He was India’s top run scorer in this format and will continue to feature in the first eleven for some time to come.

6- Suryakumar Yadav: India will be happy to fit Suryakumari in some kind of middle order despite having several good players due to his absolutely exceptional performances in T20Is last year.

7- Rishabh Pants: While Pant is undoubtedly one of India’s key players across formats, The wicketkeeper’s availability depends on his recovery after Pant sustained multiple injuries in a car accident last week. Pant had a pretty good year in ODIs in 2022, averaging 37.33 in 10 innings. However, his best performances have come when he played in the top order, which seems a bit too cramped for him at the moment.

8- KL Rahul: KL Rahul has lost the vice-captaincy to Hardik Pandya, meaning he is no longer immune to the drop after a series of lackluster performances since returning from injury last year.

9- Hardik Pandya: Pandya’s extraordinary resurgence last year has made him one of the first names in India’s team chart in limited-overs cricket.

10- Ravindra Jadeja: Injuries kept Jadeja out of the team for most of the Asia Cup and the entire T20 World Cup last year, with India clearly short on aces. They hope he can maintain his prolific form, especially with the bat, whenever he returns and avoid injury just before the 2023 World Cup.

11- Sanju Samson: Samson showed his willingness to finish in 50-over cricket whenever he got a chance to play last year, and he is counting down to eleven.

12- Washington Sundar: The spin-bowling all-rounder has proven time and time again that he is a very good batter who can be relied upon. However, injuries hampered his development last year, and he will look to make amends whenever he gets the chance.

13-Jasprit Bumrah: Bumrah’s injury, which ruled him out of the T20 World Cup, made headlines around the world, showing just how important he is to the Indian team. His injury woes have been central to India’s recent crisis, with big players taking serious knocks ahead of major tournaments and series.

14- Yuzvendra Chahal: With the tournament in India, Spinners will be central to India’s plans and it will be hard to see them leaving out Chahal like they did in the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

15- Kuldeep Yadav: Kuldeep is always within reach to make the Indian squad in any major tournament. However, it remains to be seen how much faith the team itself is willing to place in him, especially considering how he was dropped for the second Test against Bangladesh despite providing man of the match in the first.

16- Mohammed Shami: Shami was one of India’s best bowlers in the T20 World Cup and the team will keep the senior’s pace in mind for the 2023 World Cup.

17- Mohammed Siraj: While Siraj may be on the 20-man shortlist, he may have to do a lot more than what he has shown so far to become a guaranteed first team player at the World Cup.

18- Arshdeep Singh: Among India’s T20 World Cup standouts, Arshdeep has a good chance of becoming one of India’s regular pacers in the 2023 tournament.

19- Bhuvneshwar Kumar: He may have fallen down the pecking order after leaking runs in T20 matches last year. Bhuvneshwar could be one of those who could drop out of the 20 altogether if he fails to turn it around this year before the World Cup.

20- Umran Malik: India hopes that Umran will come of age before the World Cup. If so, they could have a powerful weapon that tears apart batting lineups early in games.