Ace India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has replaced Axar Patel in India’s final 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.
Notably, Ashwin had impressed everyone on his return to ODI cricket in the recently concluded three-match series against Australia.
The veteran spinner was also a part of the 2011 and 2015 editions of the World Cup. In the 2015 ODI World Cup, held in Australia, Ashwin had scalped 13 wickets from eight matches, helping India to reach the semi-final.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Axar was part of the prelimary squad for the marquee tournament but will now miss out his second consecutive ODI World Cup after sustaining a left quadriceps strain during India’s Asia Cup Super Four game against Bangladesh.
During the recently concluded three-match home ODI series against Australia, Ashwin picked up four wickets in two games. Meanwhile, Axar was also named conditionally in the India squad for the third and final ODI in Rajkot subject to his fitness. He however, missed the match which the hosts lost by 66 runs.
Notably, the Rohit Sharma-led Men In Blue will begin their 2023 World Cup campaign against five-time Champions Australia in Chennai on October 7.
Prior to the main tournament, hosts India will play two warm-up games against England and the Netherlands on September 30 and October 3 respectively.
India World Cup squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav