ODI World Cup-2023: Rohit Sharma Said This On Team Selection; How Will Team India Fare In WC?

The 15-member Team India has been announced for the ODI World Cup-2023 starting from October 5 in India. The host team, captained by Rohit Sharma, is said to be a contender to win the trophy on home grounds.

After the announcement of Team India, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has said that the team has been selected according to the current form of the players and team balance. He said that we have also taken care of the strengths and weaknesses of our opposition teams in the World Cup.

In response to a question, Rohit said that we needed such players on the lower middle order, who could also bat if needed. So we have picked two pace all-rounders Pandya and Shardul Thakur and two spin all-rounders Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.

Rohit said we need depth in both batting and bowling in the team. On many occasions we felt that our team lacked depth in the batting. The job of players at number 9, 10 or 11 is not just to bowl. On many occasions these people score 10-15 runs, which proves to be the difference between victory and defeat.

How Team India will fare in World Cup? In order to give an answer to this question it is essential to know about the strengths and weaknesses of the team.

India's top order is strong

Captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli form India's top order i.e. top-3. Virat has scored 46, Rohit has scored 30 and Gill has scored 4 centuries in ODIs. No team participating in the World Cup has scored so many centuries in its top order.

Two of the top-10 bowlers in Indian team

Currently, two of the top-10 bowlers in the ICC ODI rankings are in the Indian team. Mohammad Siraj is in fourth place with 670 points. Whereas, Kuldeep Yadav is at 10th place with 622 points. At present, apart from Australia and New Zealand, there is no other team whose two bowlers are in the top-10 in the rankings. Apart from them, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah included in the team are very experienced.

3 left hander batsmen in India

There are three players in the Indian team who are left-handed batsmen in the form of Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. With his presence, the Indian team can make good left-right combinations in the middle and lower middle order as per the circumstances.

Middle order batsmen struggling with injuries and poor fitness

Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav are in the middle order. Apart from them, Ishan Kishan is also expected to play in the middle order. However, most of them are struggling with injuries and poor fitness.

Surya has played 26 ODIs, but his average is less than 25. Iyer's average is above 40, but he is making a comeback after being injured for a long time. 

At the same time, KL Rahul is also recovering from injury and was not available for the first two matches of the Asia Cup. Ishan Kishan definitely played an inning of 82 runs in the Asia Cup match against Pakistan, but his experience in the middle order is very less.

Lower order is also weak

The lower order of the team is very weak. From number 9 to number 11, India has options like Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. All these bowlers are good, but it would be futile to expect them to score runs when needed. The batting record of none of them is good.

No  left arm pacer or off spinner in team

There is not a single left arm pacer in India's current World Cup team. There is not a single off-spinner in the Indian team.

Nowadays the role of leg spinner (right hand leg break bowler) has also increased a lot in white ball cricket. There is no leg spinner in the Indian team. Kuldeep Yadav is definitely a wrist spinner, but he is a left hand wrist spinner.