Sanjay Bangar, the former Indian cricketer and batting coach, recently shared his preferred selection of 15 players for the Indian squad for the upcoming Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. The tournament is scheduled to take place in India, spanning from October 5 to November 19.
Sanjay Bangar served as the Indian team’s batting coach during the 2019 Men’s ODI World Cup in England. The team made it to the semi-finals of the tournament but unfortunately faced a loss to New Zealand in the knockout match held in Manchester.
Bangar caused quite a stir within his squad when he suddenly picked left-arm paceman Arshdeep Singh over the fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur. Arshdeep, who has appeared in merely three ODIs until now without securing a wicket, got the nod. Interestingly, he hasn’t found a place on the lineup for the next Asia Cup tournament.
“For the World Cup, the way I have chosen my squad is focused on combinations. The combination will be as follows: five specialist batsmen, two wicketkeeper-batsmen, two spin-bowling all-rounders, one pace-bowling all-rounder, one specialist spinner, and four fast bowlers,” Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports.
“The five specialist batsmen will be Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav. The two wicketkeeper-batsmen would be Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul,” Bangar further added.
Just as with the Asia Cup team selection, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal hasn’t secured a spot in Bangar’s chosen 15 players for the upcoming ODI World Cup. “The two spin-bowling all-rounders, both I have chosen from the left-arm category, would be Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel,” he added.
“The pace-bowling all-rounder would be Hardik Pandya. One specialist spinner – Kuldeep Yadav. And the four fast bowlers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, and Arshdeep Singh.”
India is gearing up for its next big challenge in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Their campaign begins with a much-anticipated game against their long-standing rivals, Pakistan, slated for September 2. Following that, on September 4, they will face Nepal. The contest will unfold in the colorful Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Upon returning to home territory, India is ready to welcome Australia for a thrilling series of three ODIs from September 22 to 27. The excitement continues as India prepares themselves for warm-up matches against England and the Netherlands, planned for September 30 and October 3 respectively. The ultimate moment will occur on October 8 in Chennai when India steps onto the field for the Men’s ODI World Cup, squaring battle against Australia once again.
