ICC World Cup 2023: 'Kul-Cha' Returns, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel Ignored As Piyush Chawla Picks India's World Cup Squad

The 2011 India National Cricket Team World Cup-winning leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has picked India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and he has made some interesting decisions.

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is scheduled to be played from October 5 to November 19 in India. This is the first time India are hosting the World Cup alone, having previously served as co-hosts. The ICC World Cup 2023 will be played across 12 different venues in the country.

Team India will open their campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai. They will next take on Afghanistan in Delhi on October 11, before the high-voltage encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

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Meanwhile, Piyush Chawla, who plays for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), recently named his India squad for the World Cup during an interaction on Star Sports. His top-3 was predictable as he picked Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as openers and Virat Kohli as No.3. However, he made some interesting choices for the middle-order.

Shreyas Iyer Ignored As Piyush Chawla Picks India’s World Cup Squad

Piyush Chawla named Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav as the middle-order batters while completely ignoring Shreyas Iyer, who was the backbone of the Indian ODI team before facing injury issues.

Chawla then picked Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul as the two wicketkeeper-batters in his squad. The leg-spinner also didn’t pick Axar Patel in his team as Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja were two all-rounders in his 15-man squad.

Piyush Chawla’s India pace attack for the World Cup consisted of Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah. He also reunited the wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in his squad.

Notably, Kuldeep Yadav has emerged as India’s top wrist-spinner in white-ball cricket and Chahal has not been given opportunities in 50-over cricket. The senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was also left out of India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad.

A WC winner's formula: Piyush Chawla's #CWC2023 squad selections are guided by his triumphant experience. ?

Will history repeat itself? ?

Tune-in to the #WorldCupOnStar
October 5, 2 PM onwards | Star Sports Network & Disney+ Hotstar#Cricket pic.twitter.com/K9AY2VLQl0

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) August 27, 2023

Piyush Chawla’s India Squad For World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah