Former India captain and ex-BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly has picked his ideal Men in Blue squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Along with naming his 15-member main squad, the Indian cricket legend also picked three reserve players for the marquee competition scheduled to begin on October 5. Ganguly omitted three names from his World Cup squad that have been picked to play in the upcoming Asia Cup tournament.
Talented left-handed batter Tilak Varma, right-arm paceman Prasidh Krishna and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson were left out by Ganguly from his ideal 15-member squad. The former captain persisted with Varma and Krishna as reserve players while also named leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as his third player on the waiting list.
Ganguly's 15-member squad for World Cup
Ganguly 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 Ganguly's squad as well while Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan also got the nod from the former India captain.
Ganguly picked three all-rounders - Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in his squad. For the fast bowling role, Ganguly went with the quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur. Dada, as Ganguly is widely called, picked Kuldeep Yadav as the only specialist spinner in the Indian squad.
Sourav Ganguly's India squad for ODI World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.
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
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
'Apka naam hai world me, hamara bhi naam aye': Arshad Nadeem's heartfelt message for Neeraj Chopra ahead of javelin throw final
'KL Rahul should have been a reserve player': Ex-Pakistan star makes bold claim, says unfair not to include Sanju Samson in main squad
