ODI World Cup 2023: India's strongest predicted playing XI for the tournament

The Indian team will be eager to play the ICC World Cup 2023 at home. The tournament begins on October 5 and the final will be held on November 19. A total of 48 matches will be played across 10 venues in India. 

India (IND) will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on October 8 while their big-ticket match against Pakistan will be played on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. 

The Indian team had to make one forced change in their 15-member World Cup 2023 squad as Axar Patel has been replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin in the final squad submitted on September 28. Notably, Axar suffered a left quad injury during the Asia Cup 2023 and will take some time to recover. 

Here is India's Strongest Predicted Playing XI for the ODI World Cup 2023:

1. Rohit Sharma (C)

India captain Rohit Sharma will open the innings for India. He has been impressive at the top since taking over captaincy from Virat Kohli. Though he has averaged less and scored fewer centuries since then, his strike rate has improved as he has focused on playing aggressive cricket.

He had a terrific Asia Cup tournament with three half-centuries to his name. Even in the last ODI against Australia, he gave India a flying start with 80 runs in 57 balls. He is also just three sixes short of breaking Chris Gayle’s record for most maximums (553) in international cricket.