Kris Srikkanth picks Yuzvendra Chahal in his preferred 15-member India squad for World Cup 2023, leaves out key batter

Former India batter Kris Srikkanth named experienced leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in his preferred 15-member Team India squad for World Cup 2023. Rather surprisingly, there was no place for batter Shreyas Iyer in Srikkanth’s 15, with Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan getting the nod instead.

Earlier this week, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar named a 17-member Indian squad for the Asia Cup, which will be played in Sri Lanka and Pakistan from August 30 to September 17. While naming the squad, Agarkar said that the team for the World Cup will be more or less the same.

In a video on Star Sports, Srikkanth, who was the chief selector when India lifted the World Cup at home in 2011, made some interesting choices while picking his squad for the ICC event.

The omission of Shreyas is a curious one, as the batter has an average of 46.60 from 42 ODIs. In contrast, Suryakumar averages 24.33 in 26 ODIs.

While Srikkanth did not give any specific reason about why he left out Shreyas, the fact that the batter is returning from a back injury and could be rusty could be one of the reasons.

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Kris Srikkanth’s 15 for World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur

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“If a player is not fit during selection, you shouldn't pick him” - Srikkanth on KL Rahul

Earlier, Srikkanth was critical of Indian selectors for picking Rahul in the Asia Cup squad despite the fact that he was having a niggle.

In a video on YouTube, he opined that if a player is not fit during selection, he shouldn’t be picked:

"It's being said that KL Rahul has a niggle. If you have a niggle, don't pick him in the squad. If a player is not fit during selection, you shouldn't pick him. That was our policy. On the day of selection, if a player is not fit, don't select him. If you want to pick him for the World Cup, select him for the World Cup. That's a different issue.

"Now they are saying that he might play after a couple of matches, and that's why we have picked Sanju Samson as a travelling reserve. What's all this?” Srikkanth questioned.

Rahul picked up a thigh injury during the IPL 2023 in May and has not played any competitive cricket since then.