ICC World Cup 2023 will start on October 5 with a rematch of last edition’s final between England and New Zealand. Home team India will open their campaign against Australia on October 8. The Indian squad for the mega event was announced earlier today, with 15 players making the cut to the squad.
As expected, uncapped ODI player Tilak Varma and fast bowler Prasidh Krishna missed out on a place in the final squad. There were no surprise inclusions in the squad. In this article now, we will form India’s strongest possible playing 11 for ICC World Cup 2023.
Openers – Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill have done a fantastic job for Team India in ODI cricket this year. They recently helped India defeat Nepal by 10 wickets. It should not be surprising if they continue as the team’s openers at the World Cup.
Middle Order – Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur
India have preferred batting depth in recent ODI matches. Virat Kohli will continue batting at number three, followed by Shreyas Iyer at number four. After his top-quality batting performance against Pakistan, Ishan Kishan should retain the number five spot. He also provides a left-handed option.
Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur will be the three all-rounders of the team. Pandya and Thakur can also bowl some important overs of spin, while Jadeja will lead the spin attack.
Bowlers – Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah
Kuldeep Yadav will join Jadeja in the spin attack. Over the last few months, Yadav has been a big match-winner for the Indian team. Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah will be the two frontline fast bowlers. Bumrah has been a champion bowler, while Siraj has improved a lot since the year 2020.
