ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: R Ashwin has been named to India's World Cup squad in place of Axer Patel.
R Ashwin will be part of the ODI World Cup squad in India, Axar Patel did not recover from a quadriceps ailment sustained in the Asia Cup 2023.
The All India Selection Committee has released the final squad for the ODI World Cup 2023, with one change from the preliminary squad.
Axar Patel was ruled out of the final 15 after suffering a quadriceps injury during the Asia Cup Super 4 match against Bangladesh. The selectors chose Ravichandran Ashwin as Axar's replacement, despite the experienced spinner having not played in an ODI for about 20 months.
After a 20-month absence, Ashwin returned to India's ODI team for the recently finished ODI series against Australia. The ace spinner took one wicket in the first ODI but showed his class in the second, taking three wickets and turning the rain-affected contest in India's favour.
Axar was injured at the worst possible time, as it would have been his first ODI World Cup, and Ashwin is now the second player from the 2011 ODI World Cup winning squad to be included in this year's game, joining Virat Kohli. Ashwin was also a member of the World Cup squad in 2015. During India's march to the semi-finals in Australia, he took 13 wickets in eight matches.
In 115 One-Day Internationals, Ashwin has taken 155 wickets and scored 707 runs, including a half-century.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer kept his spot following a spectacular century against Australia in the second ODI. The elegant hitter also performed admirably in the third ODI, scoring 48 runs.
Also, the ODI World Cup Trophy arrives in New Delhi, as the Arun Jaitley Stadium receives a much-needed facelift ahead of the mega ICC event.
India will kick off their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8 at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. The 1983 and 2011 World Cup winners will then face Afghanistan on October 11 at the Arun Jaitley venue in Delhi, followed by Pakistan on October 14 at the world's largest cricket venue, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
India's next five matches will be against Bangladesh, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, before their last league-stage match against the Netherlands on November 12, 2023.
India Squad For World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin , Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav
