3 Indian players who potentially missed out on their last World Cup ft. Shikhar Dhawan
India announced their 15-player squad on Tuesday (September 5). It is the same as the Asia Cup squad except for Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna and Sanju Samson (travelling reserve). They begin their World Cup campaign on October 8 against Australia at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.
India are currently taking part in the Asia Cup, where they have qualified for the Super 4 stage. They would face Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on the 10th,12th and 15th of September, respectively.
In this piece, we talk about three Indian players who have failed to make the cut and have most probably played their last World Cup.
#1 Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has been overlooked by the team selectors for the third consecutive ICC event in both formats of white-ball cricket. The Rajasthan Royals wrist spinner last represented India in a major tournament in the 2019 World Cup.
The 33-year-old has had an impressive career in the 50-over format. He has picked up 121 wickets in 72 matches for India at an average of 27.13, an economy rate of 5.27, and a strike rate of 30.90. While he has been good in the format since the start of 2022, Kuldeep Yadav has been better of late.
Chahal took 12 wickets in eight matches in the 2019 World Cup. However, his performance in the latter stage of the tournament was poor - 0/88 (10 overs) against England, 1/50 (10 overs) against Bangladesh and 1/63 (10 overs) against New Zealand.
#2 Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan was one of the most impactful ODI openers of this generation. He has scored 6,793 runs in 164 innings at an average of 44.11. The left-hander also has a highly terrific record in ODI tournaments - 1,772 runs in 29 innings at an average of 63.29, scoring eight centuries and six half-centuries.
He also won the golden bat in the 2013 & 2017 editions of the Champions Trophy. Dhawan will turn 38 in the next couple of months. It is highly unlikely that he will be a part of the Indian team going into the future, considering he was also not a part of the Asian Games squad. They also have left-handers like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan - who can open the innings.
#3 Ravichandran Ashwin
Right-arm off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is arguably one of the finest Test cricketers of this generation. In ODIs, he has picked up 151 wickets in 113 matches. However, he last played an ODI for India in January 2022 - his only two appearances in the format since the 2017 Champions Trophy final. However, he was a part of the last two T20 World Cups.
Ravichandran Ashwin was a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad. He was also a regular in the 2015 edition of the tournament. However, he was not even in the discussion for the 2019 campaign.
The 36-year-old is most likely not going to be a part of the limited-overs setup anymore. The Indian team management would try to maximize the rest of his career in Test cricket.