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Experienced Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has replaced all-rounder Axar Patel in Team India’s 15-member World Cup 2023 squad.
The development was predicted after the latter picked up a quadriceps strain during the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match against Bangladesh. He was subsequently ruled out of the final and did not feature in the three-match ODI series at home against Australia as well.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, left-arm spinner Axar will need at least three more weeks to recover fully from his injury. In his absence, Washington Sundar was picked for the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka.
While Sundar was retained for the ODI series against Australia, Ashwin was handed an ODI comeback, having last played the format in January 2022. In a sign of things to come, Ashwin played the first two ODIs against the Aussies ahead of Sundar. He picked up 1/47 in the first one-dayer in Mohali and followed it with impressive figures of 3/41 in the second match in Indore.
Sundar featured in the dead rubber in Rajkot after Ashwin was not picked in the playing XI. He was economical with the ball, registering figures of 0/48 from his 10 overs. Rather surprisingly, Sundar also opened the batting with Rohit Sharma in the match. The left-hander, however, struggled and was dismissed for 18 off 30 balls.
Thursday is the last day for teams to finalize their World Cup 2023 squads. Any change after the date will require approval from the International Cricket Council.
India's updated World Cup 2023 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin.
Rohit Sharma backed Ravichandran Ashwin due to experience
Speaking ahead of the third ODI against Australia in Rajkot, Team India captain Rohit Sharma had stated that Ashwin was ready as a back-up if needed for the World Cup.
Praising the off-spinner’s performance in the first two matches of the series, he had commented:
“He’s got the class; he’s got the experience of playing the sport and handling the pressure. It's just that he hasn't played ODIs in the last year or so, but you can't take away the class and the experience that the individual has. In the last couple of games, we saw how well he bowled. He has got a lot of variations up his sleeves and in case, there is a chance, we can look at a lot of things.”
Ashwin (37) has featured in 115 ODIs so far, claiming 155 wickets at an average of 33.20 and an economy rate of 4.94.
