CWC '23: BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar on selecting KL Rahul; having one specialist spinner in India squad

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced their 15-man squad for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 with KL Rahul making the cut. The batsman is expected to play wicketkeeper's role as well and chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that the player is looking good and "we're happy to have him."

"We had a couple of fitness issues that we had to look at, but all three [Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer], who had long-term injuries have come through," Agarkar said during the squad-announcement press conference. "KL is looking good. We feel this gives us the best balance to try and do well. With KL, he was part of the camp in Bangalore, he looked really good there, has got over his niggle. He played a couple of games over the last two days. I think he kept for 50 overs and batted for around 50 overs too, so he looks good and we're happy to have him."

As for the bowlers, India's pace attack looks settled with Jasprit Bumrah leading the attack, joined by Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj alongside Shardul Thakur and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Among spinners, India decided to go with one specialist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel being other two options.

Agarkar also spoke about selecting Jadeja and Patel as both of them have same skill set - bringing the ball into the left-handers.

"Clearly, there will be discussions given we have both Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel who spin the ball into left-handers," Agarkar said. "[But] both give us depth in batting. Kuldeep takes the ball away. In 50 overs cricket, perhaps you would ideally want an off-spinner but this gives us the best balance. Seamers tend to bowl a lot more in ODIs as compared to T20 cricket, and perhaps you're a little more under pressure if you don't have an offie, so we're happy with the guys we have."

While the deadline to announce the squad is September 5, teams can make changes to it until September 28 without needing approval from the ICC. The World Cup starts October 5 in India with final scheduled to be played on November 19.

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