In a press conference on September 5 (Tuesday), the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and India captain Rohit Sharma jointly revealed the Men in Blue's 15-member squad for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup. Hardik Pandya was handed the vice-captaincy responsibility while KL Rahul made his way into the squad even though the wicketkeeper-batter didn't feature in any ODI match since March 22, 2023.
Apart from that, the 15-member squad didn't have any surprises and was on the expected lines. The Indian squad brims with seven pure batters, three all-rounders, four seamers and one spinner.
Now, the onus will be on the selected players to perform under the bright lights and extreme pressure so that the country finally ends its ICC trophy drought. With India playing at home, there will be an element of added pressure as in the last three editions of the quadrennial competition, we have seen the host nation go on to win the tournament.
In 2011, MS Dhoni-led India won the World Cup by beating Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai. In 2015, Australia defeated New Zealand in the final in Melbourne while in 2019, England defeated New Zealand in the final in London.
Rohit will now be tasked to take India to the promised land and continue to streak of host nation reigning supreme in their own backyard.
Rohit, however, feels no pressure when asked about ending India's ICC trophy drought which has lasted for a decade now. As far as the Hitman is concerned, his focus remains firmly on every player performing to the best of their ability and letting the chips fall where they may.
"There's no pressure in the World Cup. We will just go and play as per our ability," Rohit said in the press conference.
India squad for 2023 ODI World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav.
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