BCCI shortlists 20 Players for 2023 Cricket World Cup, Rohit Sharma named as Captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held a review meeting on January 1 to discuss Team India’s future specifically focusing on World Cup 2023 and World Test Championship.

Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the Indian Team in ODI and test format while 20 players have been shortlisted for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

No threat to Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the near future

There was constant speculation going on about Team India’s leadership specifically in the shorter formats. However, the review meeting has given a clear picture about how BCCI will approach the ODI World Cup in October-November 2023. Rohit will lead the Men in Blue and 20 shortlisted players will be rotated and given enough opportunities to prove themselves ahead of the marquee tournament.

India’s skipper Rohit Sharma, along with head coach Rahul Dravid, attended a review meeting conducted by BCCI secretary Jay Shah in Mumbai today. The previous selection committee’s chairman, Chetan Sharma, NCA head VVS Laxman and BCCI president Roger Binny also attended the meeting.

The whole focus of the meeting was to get a clear roadmap going into the ODI World Cup. Player availability, workload management and fitness parameters were also discussed. The BCCI will also increase its focus on player fitness and consider who have played a substantial domestic season when making selections for the national team.

“Rohit is leading India in Tests and ODIs and there were no such discussions about his future as leader in these two formats. Look at his captaincy record in Tests and ODIs and it is more than impressive,” a BCCI source privy to the development told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

“The BCCI has shortlisted 20 players who will be rotated till the 50 overs ICC World Cup,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said after the review meeting.

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Team India hasn’t won a single ICC tournament since 2013 and got defeated by England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal. The selectors and team management were criticized for trying too many experiments ahead of the T20 World Cup and hence sticking with a core of 20 players must provide better stability to the squad.