Today is the deadline for teams to make changes – no questions asked – to their World Cup squads, as per the ICC’s regulations. From tomorrow, any further changes will need the consent of the World Cup’s technical committee.
This means Ashwin joins Virat Kohli as one of only two players in this squad who also featured in India’s 2011 World Cup winning run.
Ashwin’s inclusion has come as a surprise, with things changing quickly. He was not part of the 15-man squad announced by the BCCI in late August. At the time, India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar pointed out that while Ashwin was one of the contenders, the selectors and the team management had opted for Axar, whom they felt provided batting depth. In the Asia Cup, when Axar got injured and returned to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, the BCCI drafted Washington Sundar as his replacement.
Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach, had said at a media briefing on Wednesday, after the third ODI, that “there were no changes” to the World Cup squad. Dravid said that Agarkar had been in touch with the NCA on Axar’s rehab. However, following the latest update on Axar, Ashwin has been slotted in, and Washington will fly to China on Friday to join India’s squad for the Asian Games.
India captain Rohit Sharma had said on the eve of the third ODI against Australia that all this experience worked in Ashwin’s favour. “Ashwin has got the class, he’s got experience of playing the sport and handling the pressure. It’s just that he hasn’t played ODIs [for] a year or so. But you cannot take away the class and the experience that the individual has over the years, and in the last couple of games [against Australia], we saw how well he bowled. He’s got a lot of variations up his sleeves.”
India’s updated World Cup squad
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vice-capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
*Sep 28, 2023 14.20 GMT The story was updated after the ICC confirmation.
