India National Cricket Team (PC-Getty Images)
(PC-Getty Images)

Predicted India Squad For ODI World Cup 2023.  The next ODI World Cup 2023 will be played in India between October 2023 and November 26th, 2023. This will be the first time that India will host the entire event alone. So it means that India will go into the tournament as a firm favorite.

Interestingly, the country that hosted the event has won the last three ODI World Cups. It was India in 2011 when the World Cup was hosted in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Then Australia won in 2015, which was hosted in Australia and New Zealand. In 2019, it was won by England in England. So that means the hosts have a great opportunity this time as well. But for that, they need a strong team to compete against the other sides.

India, 2011 ODI World Cup Winners
India, 2011 ODI World Cup Winners Image Credits: Twitter

India’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 preparations got underway with the three-match away ODI series against New Zealand. India won against West Indies (3-0), England (2-1), West Indies (3-0), Zimbabwe (3-0), and South Africa (2-1) in ODI bilateral series in 2022. They lost only to South Africa (3-0) and are trailing 1-0 after 2 ODIs against Kiwis in the ongoing ODI away series.

India have exactly 21 ODIs to decide the India Squad WC 2023. While India already have auditioned 44 players since the 2019 WC, 31 players are still in the fray. 14 of them are available to VVS Laxman in the NZ series with Shikhar Dhawan still fighting for a spot. Rohit Sharma will be back to take care in the following Bangladesh ODI series.

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo: Twitter)

Since the 2019 World Cup, the focus has been on T20Is. As a result, India have played only 39 ODIs in the last three and half years. Interestingly, only 6 players have played more than 20 ODIs. Hence, India are far from being a settled squad at the moment. In fact, since the last WC, India have tried out 44 players in 13 series. Only Shikhar Dhawan has played more than 30 ODI games.

Predicted India Squad For ODI World Cup 2023

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo: BCCI)

Since the 2019 WC, Shikhar Dhawan has featured in 31 ODIs, scoring 1192 runs at a 45.84 average. However, there has been a drastic dip in the strike rate. His strike rate of 83 is the most contentious point. He will face tough competition from the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and KL Rahul as openers.

Shikhar Dhawan scored 72 in the 1st ODI against New Zealand in the ongoing 3-match ODI series. He had also done well against Zimbabwe in the 1st ODI by scoring 81* and 97 against West Indies in the 1st ODI in the preceding ODI series, but had a poor series against Proteas.

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The 37-year-old may bid adieu to international cricket after the conclusion of ODI WC 2023. He has amassed 6747 runs in 163 ODIs averaging 44.98 at a strike rate of 91.72. Shikhar Dhawan’s last ODI century came during the 2019 ICC World Cup match against Australia at the Kennington Oval in London. He has hit 17 ODI tons.

The left-handed batter is a regular member of the team in the ODI format. In 18 ODIs in 2022, Shikhar Dhawan has scored 642 runs at an average of 40.13. He has also hit 6 fifties with a top knock of 97 runs.

Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill (Photo Credit: (Twitter)

Shubman Gill was Man of the series in the ODI series against West Indies and Zimbabwe where he amassed 205 and 245 runs respectively averaging 102.5 and 122.5. He averages 61.27 after playing 14 ODIs amassing 674 runs with 1 ton and 4 fifties at a strike rate of 100.45.

He hit his maiden century- a career-best 130 against Zimbabwe after scoring 98* against West Indies when rain intervened and he was denied a ton. He may feature in the 2023 WC Indian squad.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul
KL Rahul. Pic Credits: Twitter

KL Rahul might be another middle-order batsman for the team in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He may also open the innings. The right-handed batsman has played 7 ODIs this year, in which he slammed 156 runs at an average of 26 in 6 innings.

KL Rahul has also hit 1 half-century but had a strike rate of only 76.1 this year. Overall, the 31-year-old has amassed 1665 runs averaging 45 in 45 ODIs playing 43 innings at a strike rate of 87.86.

 

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma, (Image Credits: Twitter)

The right-handed batter and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has shown decent form in the 50-over format this year. In 6 ODIs, Rohit Sharma has scored 171 runs in 6 games at an average of 34.20 with 2 half-centuries. Rohit Sharma will open the innings for the team or may bat in the middle order if Shubman Gill or Prithvi Shaw open the innings.

He was rested for the ODI series against Zimbabwe and West Indies and his last ODI series was against England in July 2022 where he hit 76* in the 1st ODI. He has amassed 9376 runs in 233 ODIs averaging 48.58 which includes a record 3 double tons including the highest recorded individual score of 264.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (PC-Getty Images)

The 34-year-old middle-order batter run machine Virat Kohli has amassed 12344 runs averaging 57.68 in 262 ODIs but his recent ODI form isn’t that great. But a good show in the Asia Cup 2022 and T20 World Cup 2022, where he was among the leading run-getters, will give him necessary confidence to return to form in ODIs too. He has hit 43 ODI tons, the last of which came in August 2019 when he slammed back-to-back tons against West Indies.

He is the 2nd highest century scorer in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar (49 ODI tons) and 6th highest run-getter in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Mahela Jayawardene.

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Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson. (Photo: Twitter)

Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant will compete for a spot in the Indian ODI squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Sanju Samson has played only 11 ODIs where he amassed 330 runs averaging 66. He has hit 2 fifties with a top score of 86* against Proteas in ODIs. He has a strike rate of 104.76.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant has played more ODIs-29 but averages only 35.63 amassing 855 runs. He has also hit 5 fifties and 1 ton. His career best of 125* came against England in July 2022.  He has a strike rate of 107.55.

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav. Pic Credits: Twitter

Suryakumar Yadav has played 15 ODIs and amassed 378 runs averaging 34.36. He has also hit 2 fifties but has failed to convert fifties into tons. His highest ODI score is only 64 against West Indies in February 2022.

But he is having an excellent run of form in T20Is, where he has hit 2 tons and 12 fifties and averages 44 at an outstanding strike rate of 180.98. He is currently ranked No. 1 in T20Is by ICC. The 32-year-old right-handed batter has scored 254 runs in 12 ODIs in 2022 averaging 28.22.

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya. Pic Credits: Twitter

Hardik Pandya, the 29-year-old pace all-rounder, has featured in 66 ODIs and has amassed 1386 runs averaging 33.8 besides taking 63 scalps averaging 38.7. He was rested for the ODI series against Zimbabwe and West Indies and his last ODI series was against England in July 2022. He scored 71 and picked 4/24 in the last 3rd ODI against England to bag the MOS award for scoring 100 runs and picking 6 scalps in that series.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja. Pic Credits: Twitter

Ravindra Jadeja missed the T20 World Cup 2022 due to injuries before being named in the ODI and Test squad for the Bangladesh tour. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is yet to fully recover from knee surgery that he underwent in September and will miss the Bangladesh tour as well. Shahbaz Ahmed will replace him in the ODI squad.

Ravindra Jadeja’s last ODI assignment came in the 2022 tour of England. The spin all-rounder has amassed 2447 runs in 171 ODIs averaging 32.63 apart from taking 189 scalps averaging 37.37.  Meanwhile, Shahbaz Ahmed has played only 2 ODIs picking 3 scalps averaging 28.67 while more experienced Axar Patel has featured in 44 ODIs taking 53 scalps averaging 30.26.

Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar
Washington Sundar (Image Credit: Twitter)

Washington Sundar has been injury prone but being an off-spinner is an ideal replacement for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who may be dropped from ODI World Cup 2023 squad as he had an underwhelming T20 World Cup 2022.

Washington Sundar debuted way back in December 2017 but has only featured in 8 ODIs where he picked 8 scalps averaging 32.13. He may be included in ODI WC 2023 squad for his age of 23 years being on his side and he’s an off-spinner unlike wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo: Twitter)

Jasprit Bumrah missed the Asia Cup 2022 and T20 World Cup 2022 due to injuries. He has featured in 72 ODIs and has picked 121 scalps averaging 24.31. His career-best figures of 6/19 came in his last England tour in July 2022 in the 1st ODI.

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Jasprit Bumrah had missed the Asia Cup 2022 and was undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru alongside Harshal Patel. Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of India’s T20I series against South Africa after complaining of back pain on the morning of the first T20I. Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a back injury three days before the Indian team was to fly out for Australia.

With Mohammad Shami battling COVID-19 at the same time, the BCCI waited till the 11th hour for him to get fully fit before being named as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement for the T20 WC. Mohammed Shami has picked 152 scalps in 82 ODIs averaging 25.72 and an economy of 5.6. If Jasprit Bumrah is fit, Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel may not be in India’s ODI World Cup 2023 squad.

Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj Credit: Getty Images)

Mohammed Siraj will fight out for a place in India’s 2023 ODI World Cup squad with the likes of Prasidh Krishna (25 scalps in 14 ODIs averaging 23.92) and Deepak Chahar (15 scalps in 10 ODIs averaging 27.67).

Mohammed Siraj debuted in ODIs way back in January 2019 but has played sporadically featuring in 13 ODIs where he picked 18 scalps averaging 28.17. His career-best figures of 3/29 came against West Indies in February 2022.

Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh (Image Credits: Twitter)
Arshdeep Singh (Image Credits: Twitter)

Arshdeep Singh has picked 33 scalps in 21 T20Is averaging 18.12.  Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh made their respective ODI debuts in the 1st ODI match of the 3-match ODI series against New Zealand. While Umran Malik picked 2/66 in 10 overs, Arshdeep Singh was wicketless -0/68 in 8.1 overs. The duo wasn’t required to bowl in the 2nd rain abandoned ODI.

Arshdeep Singh being a left-arm pacer may be given preference ahead of Umran Malik, the tearaway pace sensation in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Both may feature if India opts for more variety in their pace attack. Umran Malik has played 3 T20Is where he picked 2 scalps averaging 56 at an economy of 12.44.

Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal (Image Credits: Twitter)
Yuzvendra Chahal (Image Credits: Twitter)

Yuzvendra Chahal may be picked in India’s 2023 World Cup ODI squad. He has picked 118 scalps in 69 ODIs averaging 26.97. He was wicketless in the 1st ODI against the Kiwis but had picked 7 wickets in 3 ODIs against West Indies and England in the preceding ODI series. Yuzvendra Chahal was benched surprisingly despite being in the squad throughout the T20 World Cup 2022. He was earlier omitted from India’s T20 WC 2021 squad.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav of India. PC- BCCI
Kuldeep Yadav of India. PC- BCCI

Kuldeep Yadav has featured in 72 ODIs since his debut way back in 2017 in the 50 overs format. He has picked 118 scalps in 72 ODIs averaging 28.08. He had a good series against Proteas picking up 4/18 in the last ODI played by him. The 27-year-old wasn’t included in T20 World Cup 2021 and 2022 squad, despite boasting a good average of 14.02 in T20Is.