Former India batsman Wasim Jaffer has picked his list of players who would likely to be the part of India’s squad for the coming World Cup. He feels that veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan should be added to the India team for the upcoming World Cup 2023, which will be played in India in October-November.
Shikhar Dhawan is one of the most prominent and trustworthy openers India has ever seen. He had been one of the key batters in the Indian ODI team from 2013 to 2022 but lost his place last year to young Shubman Gill. Dhawan has a vast experience of 167 ODI matches, wherein he amassed over 6000 runs at an average of 44 with 17 centuries to his name. He was the man of the ICC tournaments for India where he not only played some crucial knocks but also contributed to fielding departments too.
But as we say, life is not fair to everyone, he lost his form and got dropped from the team. Later, Shubman Gill replaced him, speaking to his form he became a perfect replacement for Shikhar in management’s eye and they never looked back to Dhawan again.
During a discussion on JioCinema, Wasim Jaffer was asked to pick his Indian squad for World Cup 2023. The former opener opted to have Dhawan in his squad as the backup opener.
“My three openers will be Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan. Even though Shikhar Dhawan is not going to be picked, I will keep him as the backup opener. Even if he doesn’t play at the start, I am okay with that,” Jaffer said.
Jaffer also opened up about number three, four, and five spots; the batter reckoned that Virat Kohli at No. 3, Shreyas Iyer at No. 4, KL Rahul at No. 5, and Hardik Pandya at No. 6.
The batter dropped Ravichandran Ashwin, and Yuzvendra Chahal and picked Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav as the spinners for his playing XI in the tournament.
“He fits in absolutely. I am of the opinion if Ishan Kishan is in your scheme of things, play him now (in the middle order) and then definitely keep playing him until Rahul is not there so that you know for sure that Ishan Kishan is your No. 2 keeper.”
“If you are not thinking like that, Rahul has to play in the middle order, so Sanju Samson 100% fits in my team. The discussion is that he is not that consistent but the numbers are looking very good for the last little while. If he plays at No. 4 in this series and scores runs, he will be selected going forward as well and then he can definitely play the World Cup,” he said.
Since the World Cup is in India, Jaffer believes, two pacers in the XI – Bumrah and Siraj/Shami – in the XI would be enough with Hardik Pandya acting as the third seamer.
“In my XI, I will have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj/Mohammad Shami. I will play two seamers – Bumrah and Siraj. For me, it is very important that Hardik Pandya bowls because the World Cup is in India. Even if he doesn’t bowl 10 overs and bowls seven-eight overs, it’s enough for me. My fourth seamer will be Shardul Thakur.”
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