Putting an end to speculations, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named replacement for injured spin bowling all-rounder Axar Patel in India's 15-member squad for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 on Thursday.
Axar Patel had sustained a quadriceps tear and is not expected to recover anytime soon, forcing the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee to replace him with 37-year-old Ravi Ashwin, news agency PTI said in a report. The veteran had picked four wickets in the two ODIs in the recently concluded series against Australia.
"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 stated in a media release.
"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 release further stated.
The writing was there on the wall when Axar failed to recover on time for the third ODI against Australia in Rajkot.
Ashwin travelled with the Indian team to Guwahati where they will play the first warm-up game against England on Saturday, September 30.
India World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), 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.
-With inputs from PTI