‘Bhai ye IPL wale players ko hatao’ – Fans react as India’s likely ‘core group’ for Asia Cup and ODI World Cup include multiple IPL stars

The 2023 edition of the ODI World Cup is less than 2 months away as the much-awaited grand event is set to start on October 5. The tournament opener will be played between the 2019 World Cup finalists England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, a report from a media source recently revealed India’s likely core group for the upcoming Asia Cup and ODI World Cup 2023. Surprisingly many senior and star players are missing from the squad. Fans have reacted to it and slammed the Indian Cricket Board for including multiple IPL stars instead of some experienced players.

Fans were fumed after seeing Jaydev Unadkat and Mukesh Kumar’s names in the squad for the two major cricket events. Unadkat doesn’t have much experience playing in the 50-over format. On the other hand, Mukesh recently made his international debut, so it’s quite evident that he also lacks experience in the white-ball format.

Shikhar Dhawan is not in consideration for Asia Cup and ODI World Cup

Surprisingly, players like Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar weren’t included in the core group. The ODI World Cup will be hosted by India and excluding Ashwin may decrease India’s chances of winning the grand event. On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar may have not played many international matches in recent times but his experience of playing in the big event can help the Indian team.

But what caught the attention of most fans was the absence of veteran left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan. We all are aware of how well Dhawan plays when it comes to major events like ODI World Cup. He has a brilliant record as an opener in the ODI format but it seems that the Indian Cricket Board has decided to ignore Dhawan and play Shubman Gill in place of him. Interestingly, Gill is currently running out of form in the ODI format, so it may change the management’s mind and include Dhawan in the squad.

India’s likely core group for Asia Cup and World Cup: Rohit Sharma(C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mukesh Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Here’s how fans reacted: