In the BCCI review meet which took place last Sunday, one thing became clear very quickly that the Board will not chop and change too much ahead of the home World Cup. The reputation of hosting a successful World Cup in India is among the topmost priority of the cricket body and a flop show is the last thing they want.
Furthermore, they had already shortlisted 20 players. In the lead-up, it will be a few from this selected bunch who will be rotated. This might sound bold, but the decision was met with lots of brickbats across the nation, especially amidst the cricket fans. Now, one of the former cricketers, a very prominent name—Irfan Pathan has gone on record saying that 20 players is too small a pool.
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Speaking on Star Sport’s Road to Glory, he said how the 50-over World Cup is still nine months away and injury can fizzle out BCCI’s plans.
“World Cup is still nine months away, you can’t have just 20 players and rotate them and forget about rest,” he said on Star Sports, adding that the coaches at NCA are working with 33 players and it would be nice if BCCI has a look at them as well.
“The coaches at the NCA are in direct contact with Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and the coaches(of Indian team). There were 33 targeted players in their list apart from the contracted list that we have.”
“So, that’s a big pool of players that we are talking about not just twenty. Twenty can’t be enough because if something goes wrong, be the injury or be their form…. because nine months is a long long time. So, you need a bigger pool of players,” the former India all-rounder said.
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Earlier the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had reportedly shortlisted 20 players for ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 which is scheduled to be held in India this year in October and November. The decision was made at the board’s Annual General Meeting on Sunday with the aim to finalise a strong 15-man squad for the showpiece event.
According to a Cricbuzz report, these 20 players will be rotated in the upcoming assignments. It has been learned that head coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, NCA head VVS Laxman and chief selector Chetan Sharma brainstormed for nearly four hours in a Mumbai hotel before coming up with the list of players. BCCI president Roger Binny attended the meeting through video conferencing.
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