World Cup 2023: Indian squad announced; Rahul, Kishan in; no Ashwin, Chahal

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday (September 5) announced India’s World Cup squad. Rohit Sharma will lead the side for the first time in the 50-over World Cup, with Hardik Pandya named his deputy.

The announcement was made in a press conference addressed by Rohit and chief selector Ajit Agarkar at Earl’s Regency in Kandy (Sri Lanka). Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav reclaimed their places, while Sanju Samson, who was a reserve in India's Asia Cup squad, has been left out. Among the notable omissions are R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tilak Verma and Prasidh Krishna.

Though the last day to announce the provisional World Cup squad was September 5, the teams are free to make changes till September 28. However, Agarkar said, “India are not going to change their 15-member squad unless there are any injuries.” He backed KL Rahul and said the wicketkeeper looked really good in the Bengaluru training camp.

India will kick start their 2023 World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai. They will play a couple of warm-up games before the mega event - against England on September 30 in Guwahati and the Netherlands on October 3 in Thiruvananthapuram.

The final of the tournament will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, while Kolkata and Mumbai will host the two semi-finals.

India had won the World Cup when it was last played in the sub-continent in 2011. They reached the semifinals of the next two World Cups and as cricket’s showpiece events returns to India, the team has gone through 10 years without winning a single ICC tournament.

Indian squad for World Cup: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.