Team India's provisional 15-member Indian squad for ODI World Cup 2023 will be announced on Tuesday (September 5) in a press conference from India's Asia Cup 2023 camp in Sri Lanka, Kandy. Ahead of the big announcement, former India opener Gautam Gambhir picked his 15-member Indian squad for the quadrennial event. Surprisingly, Gambhir left out Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur, who are believed to have confirmed a place in India's World Cup team.
During an interaction on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked if the squad he picked for 2023 ODI World Cup would only have players who at present are part of 2023 Asia Cup contingent. He responded:
"Washington Sundar is there in my squad. I have six batters, four all-rounders, and five proper bowlers in my squad. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are my six batters."
The 2011 World Cup winner said he would leave out pace all-rounder Shardul Thakur and instead pick four specialist seamers.
"The four all-rounders are Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Then five bowlers which includes four proper pacers who are there in this (Asia Cup) squad and Kuldeep Yadav."
Days back when India's Asia Cup squad was announced, Rohit mentioned that the team management wants batting depth in their lineup and that's why Shardul, only pace bowling all-rounder in the current mix, was picked at number 8.
When Gautam Gambhir was asked why he picked out-of-favor Washington Sundar in his ODI World Cup squad, considering he hasn't played an ODI for a long while, he replied:
"A good squad is one which gives options to your captain. Rohit Sharma said he needs a lengthy batting lineup, so you can go with three spinners as well, and you will be playing in different conditions and venues. Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are similar kind of bowlers."
Gambhir on why he chose KL Rahul ahead of Shreyas Iyer.
"You cannot compare KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer because KL Rahul is your second wicketkeeper. It was an extremely tight call on whether I should keep Shreyas or Suryakumar Yadav. If you get Ravindra Jadeja to bat at No. 5 and Hardik Pandya at No. 6, Surya can win you matches at No. 7."
Gautam Gambhir's Indian World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav.