ICC World Cup 2023: Ashwin replaces Axar in India's squad

Veteran bowler Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday was added to India's final 15-man squad for the much-awaited ICC Men's World Cup 2023 starting on October 5.

The change in the squad comes after left-arm spinner Axar Patel was injured and could not return for the tournament.

"Axar Patel has failed to recover in time for the World Cup after sustaining a left quadriceps strain during India's Asia Cup Super Four encounter against Bangladesh. The spin-bowling all-rounder missed the final of the Asia Cup as a result," ICC said in its statement.


"Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been named his replacement, who was impressive on his return to ODI cricket in the recently concluded series against Australia where he picked up four wickets in two games," the statement further stated.

Ashwin has been part of the squad for the past ICC World Cup editions in 2011 and 2015 for India.

India Squad
Rohit Sharma will lead the team as the captain with Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain.

Other players in the final squad are Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

Comeback
Before the announcement of Ashwin, other players who made a comeback were KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Bumrah.

KL Rahul made his comeback to India by scoring a century against arch-rival Pakistan in the Super Four Asia Cup encounter.

Iyer too struck a ton in the second ODI against Australia.

Bumrah has shown glimpses of returning to his best, which included a fiery spell against Pakistan in the Super Fours of the Asia Cup. The ace pacer put on a death bowling clinic against Australia in the final ODI after going for a run in his first two spells.

Schedule
The tournament will be played over 46 days with the final match scheduled on November 19 at Ahmedabad.

The venues for the most celebrated cricket tournament include: Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram along with Hyderabad will host the warm-up matches from 29 September to 3 October.