Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal recently featured in the Indian cricket team’s tour of the Caribbean during the five-match T20I series. However, his performance against the West Indies left much to be desired, as he managed to secure only five wickets during the series. In 2023, Chahal has participated in just two ODIs.
Rajasthan Royals’ captain, Sanju Samson, also found himself excluded from the World Cup squad despite his impressive statistics in the ODI format. Samson boasts an average of over 50 and a strike rate exceeding 100 in ODIs. Surprisingly, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who played a crucial role in India’s victory over Australia during a knockout match in the 2011 World Cup, was also not considered for the World Cup squad.
Pacer Prasidh Krishna, who recently returned from an injury and represented India in a 20-over fixture against Ireland, failed to impress the selectors enough to secure a spot in the World Cup squad. Notably, Team India’s World Cup 2023 squad lacks any left-arm pacers.
Arshdeep Singh, a consistent performer for India in white-ball cricket, was shockingly omitted from the squad. Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has a stellar record in ICC tournaments, having amassed 363 runs in five matches during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, 412 runs in eight matches in the 2015 World Cup, and 338 runs in five matches during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. In the 2019 World Cup, Dhawan scored a century against Australia before succumbing to an injury.
