Sanjay Bangar names his 15-member India squad for World Cup 2023, springs big surprise in bowling department

Former Team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has picked his preferred 15-member India squad for World Cup 2023. Bangar sprung a big surprise by naming left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in his team ahead of all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

The 2023 ODI World Cup will be held in India from October 5 to November 19. Ahead of the mega event, India will also feature in the Asia Cup, followed by a short ODI home series against Australia. As admitted by BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar, the World Cup squad will be similar to the one picked for the Asia Cup.

In a video on Star Sports, Bangar named his 15-member squad for the World Cup. He explained that his combination for the mega event would be five specialist batters, two wicketkeeper-batters, two spin-bowling all-rounders, one pace-bowling all-rounder, one specialist spinner and four fast bowlers.

Elaborating on his choices in each department, the former player said:

“My specialist batters would be Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, while wicket-keeper batters are Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul. For spin bowling all-rounders, I would prefer both left-armers - Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja."

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

There was no place for Prasidh Krishna as well in the former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) coach’s 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup.

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Sanjay Bangar’s 15-member squad for World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

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How has Arshdeep Singh fared in ODIs?

Bangar naming left-armer Arshdeep in his preferred 15 for the World Cup is rather surprising, as the young bowler doesn’t have much experience in ODIs. The 24-year-old has only played three ODIs but is yet to pick up a wicket.

In contrast, Arshdeep has an impressive T20I record. He has featured in 33 games and taken 50 wickets at an average of 18.98 and an economy rate of 8.48. Significantly, he's not part of India’s squad for the Asia Cup, which will be played from August 30 to September 17.