ICC World Cup 2023: KL Rahul Left Out Of India's Playing XI For Australia Clash As Sanjay Bangar Picks His Team

Former India National Cricket Team and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) coach Sanjay Bangar has named his playing XI for the Men In Blue’s World Cup opening clash.

The Rohit Sharma-led India will open their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign against Pat Cummins-led Australia National Cricket Team on Sunday, October 8, at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

On Tuesday, September 5, the BCCI announced the provisional 15-member squad for the marquee tournament and the squad was along the expected lines.

Two players – Prasidh Krishna and Tilak Varma – from India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad alongside reserve player Sanju Samson were left out of the squad for the World Cup.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Sanjay Bangar was asked to pick his playing XI for the match against Australia in the World Cup. He said that the playing XI will be picked based on the surface at the venue and in Chennai, India won’t need four fast-bowling options.

“The wicket will matter a lot. We all know that the Chennai wicket turns a little and the ball gets stuck on the pitch. So you won’t need four fast bowling options there,” he said.

KL Rahul Snubbed From India’s Playing XI For Australia Clash Picked By Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar named Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli as his top 3 while Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan as middle-order batters with the latter keeping wickets in his team. He further picked Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel as his three all-rounders.

“Hardik Pandya can definitely do the third seamer’s job. So that is why Axar Patel plays at No. 8 in my team. I don’t think the Indian team will want to change their top seven in any situation throughout the World Cup.”

“I will go in the reverse order. Jadeja at No. 7, Hardik Pandya at No. 6, Ishan Kishan at No. 5, Shreyas Iyer at No. 4, Virat Kohli at No. 3, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma at No. 1 and No. 2. At No. 8, either Shardul or Axar Patel will play. The team’s combination will be like this,” Sanjay Bangar said.

When asked if KL Rahul can be ignored from the ODI setup, he responded that ignoring the batter is hard and the team will have to make some tough decisions. He elaborated:

“You can’t ignore him. Similarly, the team management has shown faith in Shreyas Iyer as well because both of them were out because of injuries for a long time. Now it comes down to what is better for the team and then there are tough calls while making the playing XI.”

Sanjay Bangar’s India XI for Australia clash: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj