Former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar revealed his preferred 15-player squad for the upcoming Men’s ODI World Cup, to be held in the country from October 5 to November 19.
In his squad, Bangar sprung a huge surprise by naming left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in his team ahead of fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur. Arshdeep has only played three ODIs so far, but is yet to take a wicket. Moreover, he is not named in the Asia Cup squad.
Bangar was the batting coach of the Indian team when they reached the semi-finals of 2019 Men’s ODI World Cup in England, before losing to New Zealand in the knockout game at Manchester.
"For the World Cup, the way I have chosen my squad is focused on combinations. The combination will be as follows: five specialist batsmen, two wicketkeeper-batsmen, two spin-bowling all-rounders, one pace-bowling all-rounder, one specialist spinner, and four fast bowlers,” said Bangar to Star Sports.
"The five specialist batsmen will be Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav. The two wicketkeeper-batsmen would be Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul," he added.
Just like the Asia Cup squad, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal doesn’t find a place in Bangar’s 15 for the ODI World Cup. "The two spin-bowling all-rounders, both I have chosen from the left-arm category, would be Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel."
"The pace-bowling all-rounder would be Hardik Pandya. One specialist spinner – Kuldeep Yadav. And the four fast bowlers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, and Arshdeep Singh."
India’s next international assignment will be participating in the 2023 Asia Cup, by opening their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2, before playing Nepal on September 4. Both of India’s Group A matches will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Top two sides from Groups A and B will progress to the Super Fours, where they will play three more games at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, which will also host the final on September 17. On returning home, India will play three ODIs at home against Australia from September 22-27.
Also Read: Cricket HistoryAfter playing warm-up matches against England and the Netherlands on September 30 and October 3 respectively, India will open their Men’s ODI World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.