Sanjay Bangar unveils 15-member squad for Men’s ODI World Cup

Sanjay Bangar, a former Indian cricketer, unveiled his top 15 players for the 2017 Men’s ODI World Cup, which will take place in the nation from October 5 to November 19.

Bangar shocked everyone by selecting left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh over fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur for his squad. Despite only having participated in three ODIs, Arshdeep has yet to record a wicket. Additionally, he is not listed in the Asia Cup roster.

In the 2019 Men’s ODI World Cup in England, Bangar served as the Indian team’s batting coach as they advanced to the semi-finals before falling to New Zealand in the championship match at Manchester.

“For the World Cup, the way I have chosen my squad is focused on combinations. The combination will be as follows: five specialist batsmen, two wicketkeeper-batsmen, two spin-bowling all-rounders, one pace-bowling all-rounder, one specialist spinner, and four fast bowlers,” said Bangar to Star Sports.

“The five specialist batsmen will be Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav. The two wicketkeeper-batsmen would be Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul,” he added.

Just like the Asia Cup squad, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal doesn’t find a place in Bangar’s 15 for the ODI World Cup. “The two spin-bowling all-rounders, both I have chosen from the left-arm category, would be Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.”

“The pace-bowling all-rounder would be Hardik Pandya. One specialist spinner – Kuldeep Yadav. And the four fast bowlers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, and Arshdeep Singh.”

India’s next major international assignment will be to compete in the 2023 Asia Cup. On September 2, they will face their bitter rival Pakistan, and on September 4, they will play Nepal. The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium will host both of India’s Group A games.

The top two teams from Groups A and B advance to the Super Fours, where they play three more games at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, which also serves as the venue for the championship game on September 17. India will host three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Australia from September 22–27 after returning home.

India will begin their Men’s ODI World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai after playing exhibition games against England and the Netherlands on September 30 and October 3, respectively.

-IANS