BCCI announces 15-man India World Cup 2023 squad; KL Rahul in, Sanju Samson out

All the eyes were set on the crucial Indian men's World Cup cricket team's announcement which was due to happen on Tuesday, September 5. With BCCI's chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, leading the way and the stakes raised pretty high ahead of the 13th edition of the men's World Cup, the 15-member squad was announced as promised amid a lot of fanfare. One expected a few surprises to be in the offing and turns out there were a few in store anyway.

KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav in

One of the more contentious topics in this regard has been the inclusion of KL Rahul and the general consensus on this has been divided at best. Having not played any competitive cricket since May of 2023, KL Rahul's place in the team wasn't guaranteed despite his good run over the last couple of years in the Indian 50-over middle-order. However, the Karnataka batsman did eventually manage to hold his spot in the 15-player squad for World Cup 2023.

Speaking to the media, Ajit Agarkar noted that KL Rahul has been a prolific run scorer at no. 5, which could mean that the latter will reprise his role in the upcoming tournament.

Another major development came in the form of Suryakumar Yadav's inclusion in the 15-man team. Yadav has been one of India's talismans in the last year or two in the 20-over format but he hasn't managed to translate that form into the ODIs so, ahead of the team announcement, his place in the squad, too, remained uncertain. 

Ishan Kishan, who recently impressed everyone with a gritty knock against a solid Pakistan attack in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, has found himself a place in the World Cup team. He will be the second wicketkeeper/batter alongside KL Rahul in the team.

With the batting unit now dense with talent but also replete with a lack of consistency, it would be interesting to see who makes the final cut after all.

Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson get the axe

Sanju Samson, too, was another possible pick for the team but his inclusion largely depended on how KL Rahul & Suryakumar Yadav fared. The selectors, eventually, have chosen to side with the latter two and as expected, Samson's non-selection has got social media talking. Hyderabad batter Tilak Varma and Karnataka pacer Prasidh Krishna, who are currently part of the 17-member squad for the Asia Cup, do not make it to the WC squad.

Here's the final India squad for World Cup 2023:

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah