Krishnamachari Srikkanth names two players who should not be part of India’s ODI World Cup squad

Former India cricketer and 1983 World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth has named two big players who do not make the cut in his India’s ODI World Cup squad list. Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a probables list consisting of 20 players for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

The apex cricket board wants the management to rotate the players in the list in all their bilateral series so as to obtain a ‘core team’. In a conversation with Star Sports, former cricketer Srikkanth spoke in detail about the probables list and opined that Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur should be out of the squad.

“Two of the players won’t be in my list, Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur,” Srikkanth was quoted as saying by News18. It is worth mentioning that pacer Shardul did not play in the recently concluded ODI series against Bangladesh and does not feature in the squad of the forthcoming 50-over contest against Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, opener Shubman Gill has got his fair share of matches since skipper Rohit Sharma was rested after the T20 World Cup 2022 and has been in decent touch. However, it remains to be seen if the right-hander can be consistent in the One Day format. He has been preferred ahead of veteran Shikhar Dhawan for the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Four medium pacers are enough: Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth also added that his list would contain four pacers and bank on players who can win matches single-handedly. He also backed Deepak Hooda to make it to the team who can bowl his part-time off-spinners in the middle-overs and offer an extra bowling option.

“If you want my medium pacers, they would be- (Jasprit) Bumrah, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj. Four medium pacers are enough. (Mohammed) Shami would be a so-so. I’m speaking as a chairman of selectors and not a fan, I would instead bring in (Deepak) Hooda. And I believe these are the guys that will win matches, what do you want? You want to win matches, you need horses like Yusuf Pathan who will win you matches single handedly,” said the former Indian selector.

The road to the 50-over marquee event has begun as India will take on Sri Lanka on January 10. Both sides will look to experiment with the squads which will help them figure out certain players who can make the cut for the mega event which will be held later this year.