KL Rahul to be included in India’s squad for Men’s ODI World Cup; Sanju Samson to miss out: Report

New Delhi: Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul is all set to be included in India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming Men’s ODI World Cup, with Sanju Samson set to miss out on participating in the showpiece event.

As per a report in The Indian Express, Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna, currently in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, where Samson is a travelling reserve, also miss out being a part of the World Cup squad.

“The selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar flew to Sri Lanka where he met Indian captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid and picked the squad. The meeting took place after the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup game in Kandy which was washed out after the first innings,” added the report.

Rahul was ruled out of playing in India’s first matches in Asia Cup due to a niggle unrelated to his right thigh injury, which kept him out of action since May and needed surgical intervention.

“The selection committee also discussed Rahul’s fitness and after the medical team gave a green signal, he was included in the squad. Rahul has been hitting the nets and has batted for several hours back at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. It is also learnt that he will be flown to Lanka to join Indian team in Asia Cup,” added the report.

The rest of India’s squad bears a familiar look. Captain Rohit Sharma will lead the batting charge along with Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav. Along with Rahul, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who made a fine 82 against Pakistan at Pallekele on Saturday, finds a place too.

Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur will be the all-rounders in the team. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are the designated pacers while Kuldeep Yadav is the specialist spinner in the squad.

On returning home after the conclusion of the Asia Cup, India will play three ODIs at home against Australia from September 22-27. After playing World Cup warm-up matches against defending champions England and the Netherlands on September 30 and October 3 respectively, India will open their campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.

–IANS