The highly-anticipated Team India's squad for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup is finally out and it's fair to say, that a handful of players would be heartbroken and dejected after their names were not included in the Men in Blue's 15-member squad for the quadrennial competition. The squad met the expectations of most of the cricket pundits and fans. With Rohit Sharma as the leader, the Indian squad features a balanced mix of seven specialised batters, three all-rounders, four seamers, and one spinner.
KL Rahul made a comeback to the squad, despite not having played any ODI matches since March 22, 2023, while others, who had played 50-over international cricket in the past few months, faced an agonising snub.
Let's take a look at 5 players who missed out on India's ODI World Cup squad:
1. Sanju Samson: The elegant right-handed wicketkeeper-batter and Rajasthan Royals' captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was snubbed from India's World Cup squad. Samson is currently with the Indian side in Sri Lanka as a reserve player in the country's Asia Cup squad. The right-handed batter has played 13 ODIs and scored 390 runs at an average of 55.71 and a strike rate of 104 with the help of three half-centuries.
2. Yuzvendra Chahal: The veteran right-arm leg-spinner, who was for a long period of time an indispensable figure in India's limited-overs setup, has also been left out of the World Cup squad. A slight in deep form and a poor performance during the West Indies tour led to Chahal's omission from the squad. Chahal, who has bagged 121 wickets in 72 ODIs at an economy rate of 5.27, was part of India's squad during the 2019 ODI World Cup.
3. Ravichandran Ashwin: The veteran right-arm off-spinner has also been left out. There was a huge debate on whether India should opt for an off-spinner in the squad, especially to counter teams with exceptional left-handed batters. But as it turned out, Rohit and the selectors didn't feel the necessity to include Ashwin in the scheme of things. The veteran bowler has played two ODI World Cups for India (2011 and 2015. Overall, he has played in 113 ODIs and has bagged 151 wickets.
4. Prasidh Krishna: The right-arm tall fast bowler, who recently returned to international cricket after a lengthy hiatus due to injury, also missed out on the World Cup squad. Krishna is currently part of India's Asia Cup squad but with four senior pacers getting the nod for the World Cup, the Karnataka pacer had to be left out. Krishna has bagged 25 wickets in 14 ODIs for India.
5. Tilak Varma: Mumbai Indians' young sensation played tremendously well during the T20I series against West Indies last month. As a result, he was named in India's Asia Cup squad. The 20-year-old is yet to make his ODI debut for India. In List-A cricket, Varma has scored 1,236 runs in 25 matches with the help of five tons and as many half-centuries. He has an average of 56.18 and a strike rate of 101.64.
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