Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden has named his ideal 15-member Team India squad for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup and, it's fair to say that the Aussie legend has made a couple of surprising decisions. Hayden didn't pick any frontline or pure spinner in his squad as he snubbed leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav from his squad. Moreover, Hayden selected Sanju Samson in the 15-member along with KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan.
Hayden's Team India squad for ODI World Cup
Hayden picked captain Rohit Sharma, opening batter Shubman Gill and maverick stroke-maker Virat Kohli as the troika would be in almost everyone's squad. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul made Hayden's squad as well while Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson also got the nod from the former cricketer-turned-commentator.
Hayden picked three all-rounders - Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in his squad. For the fast bowling role, Hayden went with the quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur.
In the absence of Chahal and Kuldeep, Hayden has backed Jadeja and Axar to play the role of a specialist spinner as they can be very productive with the bat in lower middle order.
Hayden's Team India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan and Axar Patel.
The Men in Blue will play nine matches in the league stage and their campaign will begin against Australia on October 8.
India schedule for 2023 ODI World Cup
October 8: India vs Australia, Chennai
October 11: India vs Afghanistan, New Delhi
October 14: India vs Pakistan, Ahmedabad
October 19: India vs Bangladesh, Pune
October 22: India vs New Zealand, Dharamsala
October 29: India vs England, Lucknow
November 2: India vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai
November 5: India vs South Africa, Kolkata
November 11: India vs Netherlands, Bengaluru
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