Indian players celebrating a wicket during the win over Nepal. (AFP Image)
Rohit Sharma dropped a hint regarding Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson’s place in India’s ODI World Cup 2023 squad ahead of the official announcement
Team India captain Rohit Sharma dropped a major hint regarding the 15-man squad for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 ahead of the official squad announcement on Tuesday, September 5. The BCCI had earlier named a 17-man roster for the Asia Cup, which would be trimmed down to 15 for the provisional World Cup squad which can be changed further until September 28.
After smashing 74 runs against Nepal during a convincing 10-wicket win in the second game of the Asia Cup 2023 group stage, Rohit admitted that while the two games of the continental tournament were not enough, they did help the Men in Blue to try out a few things here and there, like Ishan Kishan’s batting position at number 5, in KL Rahul’s absence.
With Rahul missing for the Group A games through a niggle, Kishan impressed with his batting against Pakistan through an 82-run knock, and he was also reliable behind the stumps.
The Indian captain also highlighted that there were plenty of positives, the fielding against Nepal was ‘below pair’ and that remains an area of concern for the hosts of the ODI World Cup 2023.
Speaking to the broadcasters, Rohit revealed that he did have some early nerves against Nepal after he won the Player of the Match award.
“Not really, some nerves to start with but once I got my eye in, I wanted to get the team home. That was not intentional (the flick-sweep), I wanted to chip it over short fine but the bats these days are so good,” said the ‘Hitman’.
With the Indian captain and coach Rahul Dravid set to attend a presser on Tuesday, 1:30 PM IST to announce the 15-man squad for the World Cup, Rohit dropped a hint that the same squad that was picked for the Asia Cup might be trimmed down, even though he himself had announced ‘gates were not closed’ for those who missed out.
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“When we came here we knew what our World Cup 15 is going to be like, the Asia Cup was not going to give us a better picture because it was only two games. But luckily we got to bat in the first game and bowl in this, so that made it a complete game for us,” said the 36-year-old.
He further added, “Still have a lot to work on. Lot of guys coming back from injuries and they need time to get back into the groove. Hardik and Ishan were very good in the last game to get us to that score. The bowling was okay today but the fielding was bad, we need to improve on that.”