On the eve of the third and final ODI against Australia, India head coach Rahul Dravid made a big statement during interaction with the media. The Indian head coach affirmed that the management has narrowed down '17-18' players that are likely to be part of India's squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
"Probably not going to get too many more games in our conditions. We had the opportunity to play in these conditions which is great. Yeah, coming out of the IPL to a large extent we are pretty clear about the kind of squad and the players we want. We have narrowed it down to 17-18 players," Dravid told during a press conference before India vs Australia 3rd ODI.
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt reacted strongly to Dravid's comments regarding the Indian squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup and asked the Indian head coach to first prioritise winning the ongoing white-ball series against Australia.
"Rahul Dravid said that they will keep trying different combinations. Pehle series toh jeeto! Badalna toh irrelevant hai (First win the series! Changing combinations is irrelevant). We've to see how you solve your batting concerns first. All this talk about team combinations… this is were the confusion starts. How much do you want to change?” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
“At this moment, all the conversations should be around the third ODI and how to win it. If someone asks a different question, you can say that it has got nothing to do with the match. He has talked a lot about combinations, this shouldn't be so frequent,” Butt added.
Talking about the ongoing series between India and Australia, the Men in Blue won the first ODI by five wickets and the Baggy Greens registered a thumping 10-wicket win in the second ODI. The two teams will play the series decider on March 22 (Wednesday).
Meanwhile, the 50-over World Cup is scheduled to be held in India later in the year. Playing at home, the Men in Blue will be under tremendous pressure to lift the World Cup trophy and end their decade-long ICC trophy drought. India last won the ODI World Cup in 2011 under MS Dhoni's leadership. Overall, India have won two ODI World Cup titles, the first one coming under Kapil Dev's captaincy in 1983.
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