Amid the hustle and bustle around the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 which is slated to kick off from August 30, India skipper Rohit Sharma gave his opinion on India being the title favourites for the all-important ODI World Cup. The showpiece tournament will start from October 5 and will be concluded on November 19. India will commence their ODI World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8.
When Rohit Sharma along with India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar finally announced India's squad for the Asia Cup in the press conference, the Indian captain was asked about whether Men in Blue are the title favourites for the upcoming ODI World Cup. Rohit clearly said that he doesn't believe in the thoughts of being favourites.
“I don't believe the thoughts of being favourites and underdogs. You have to play well. Important bit is advantage of playing on home conditions. Other team knows the conditions,” Rohit said.
India, who aim to break their long standing drought of ICC trophy, are yet to announce their squad for the ODI World Cup. India's newly appointed chief selector Ajit Agarkar in the press conference said that team has enough time to look at the players before announcing World Cup squad.
"5th September is the deadline, so we have enough time to look at the players before announcing World Cup squad." Agarkar said.
Notably, the 17-member Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2023 saw some surprise entries in the fold with the return of injury-recovered KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer. India's young batting sensation Tilak Varma also earned India's ODI call-up after his exploits in the just-concluded T20I series against West Indies. And above all, India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is back to bolster India's squad for the marquee Asia Cup 2023. This is not it, seasoned batter Sanju Samson has also been kept into India's squad as a backup.
But surprisingly India ace spinner Yuzvendra Chahal isn't included in India's squad for Asia Cup, including R Ashwin and Washinton Sundar instead Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have been considered for the continental championship. However, Rohit clearly said that doors are not closed for the spin troika for the ODI World Cup.
"Doors are not closed for anyone including Ravi Ashwin, Chahal and Sundar for the World Cup", Rohit said.
Agarkar also explained the reason to opt Axar and Kuldeep over Chahal.
"Axar Patel has done really well and can bat as well. Kuldeep has done really well as well. To fit two wrist spinners was really difficult which is why we have gone with Kuldeep," Agarkar said during the press meet.
Rohit further added to this while talking about the added advantages of having Axar in the squad, saying, "We wanted someone who can bat at 8 and 9. Axar has had a good run this year and has batted well in white-ball cricket. With him being there, it allows us to have a left-hander and have the option to send him up the order to face the spinners. This provides us with a long batting line-up as well. We also thought of Ashwin and Washington Sundar as well, even Yuzvendra Chahal missed out. But we had to do that because we can only fit 17 players."
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup will see six teams — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, UAE and Nepal — clashing against each other for the coveted trophy. Pakistan will take on Nepal in the Asia Cup opener in Multan on August 30 while India will open their campaign against Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Team India's Asia Cup squad:
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna
Reserve player: Sanju Samson.
Here's India's schedule for the ODI World Cup:
Match Number Matches Match Date Match Time (IST) Venue
Match 5 India vs Australia 8-Oct 2:00 PM Chennai
Match 9 India vs Afghanistan 11-Oct 2:00 PM Delhi
Match 12 India vs Pakistan 14-Oct 2:00 PM Ahmedabad
Match 17 India vs Bangladesh 19-Oct 2:00 PM Pune
Match 21 India vs New Zealand 22-Oct 2:00 PM Dharamsala
Match 29 India vs England 29-Oct 2:00 PM Lucknow
Match 33 India vs Sri Lanka 2-Nov 2:00 PM Mumbai
Match 37 India vs South Africa 5-Nov 2:00 PM Kolkata
Match 45 India vs Netherlands 12-Nov 2:00 PM Bengaluru
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
'What I’ve done in this team is...': Rohit Sharma on how would be India's batting order for Asia Cup 2023
Big News: Team India announces 17-member strong Asia Cup's squad with surprise entries including Shreyas, KL Rahul
