India's ODI World Cup Squad Finalised: KL Rahul Included As These THREE Players Miss The Bus

India's squad for ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 has been finalised. The BCCI selection panel headed by Ajit Agarkar were waiting for a fitness update of KL Rahul from National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and had delayed the announcement of the squad to September 5. But it is being reported that the selectors have decided on the final 15 after receiving update from NCA that Rahul has completely recovered and is available for selection. 

The 15-man squad has not been announced yet. However, the three names missing out the bus are wicketkeeper and batter Sanju Samson, young Tilak Varma and pacer Prasidh Krishna.

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The Agarkar-led panel had flown to Sri Lanka with Team India and met captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid to pick the squad, reported Indian Express. The same report stated that the meeting took place after the India vs Pakistan match of Asia Cup 2023 was washed out. That means Rohit, Agarkar, Dravid sat in a meeting till late night to finalise the 15.  

The rain has a final say as the match is Called Off!

Scorecard __ https://t.co/hPVV0wT83S

#AsiaCup2023 | #TeamIndia | #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/XgEEkjvrC5 — BCCI (@BCCI) September 2, 2023

Ishan Kishan features in the 15-man squad as the second-choice wicketkeeper batter, toppling Samson. Rohit Sharma will, of course, lead the side in the World Cup with Shubman Gill being his opening partner. Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav will be part of the middle order. The all-rounders picked for the World Cup are Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel.

Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj will be part of the pace bowling unit while Kuldeep Yadav will be the lone wrist spinner in the squad.

It is expected that when BCCI reveal the squad, maybe on September 3, they will also announce the squad for the three-match series vs Australia, that will be held in India from September 22 to 27. 

The delay in announcement of World Cup squad was due to KL Rahul's fitness concern. Agarkar-led panel waited for clearance from the medical team. As soon as they got the clearance, they decided to hold a meeting and finalise the 15-man team.

Team India will play their first match if ICC ODI World Cup against Australia on October 8 at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. They play Afghanistan next on October 9 followed by the biggest game of the tournament, against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 14 at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. India have not won a ICC trophy for 10 years and this is a golden opportunity to win one knowing the tournament is being played at home.