World Cup 2023: 'Unfortunately Washington Sundar did not get picked,' Yuvraj Singh on India squad

India were forced to make a last-minute change to their ICC Cricket World Cup 15-member squad after Axar Patel was ruled out from the tournament. Axar suffered a quadricep strain during the Super Four game against Bangladesh in the Asian Cup and failed to attain match fitness.

The selectors have picked Ravichandran Ashwin as his replacement in the squad and he comes in as the only off-spinner in the team.

The 2011 World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh, however, feels that India should have picked all-rounder Washington Sundar as he is not only an off-spinner but also a left-handed batter.

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India have left-handed batting options in Ishan Kishan and Ravindra Jadeja but only Jadeja is assured of a place in the playing XI.

“With Axar not there we have to wait and see who will bat at No. 7. I was thinking if Washington Sundar would have played in place of Axar then India would have had another left-hander. But unfortunately, he did not get picked and so did Yuzvendra Chahal. But otherwise, I feel the combination is fine,” Yuvraj told Hindustan Times Digital.

On who should India play at No 4 among Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, Yuvraj said that the important thing for India would be to maintain consistency with their playing XI.

“So whoever between KL and Iyer bats at No. 4, I don’t think India should chop and change anymore because both are coming back from an injury and both need game time,” Yuvraj added.

India open their World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai on 8 October but before that, they will be playing two warm-up matches against England (30 September) and Netherlands (3 October).

The Men in Blue will look to use these matches to give the final touches to their team combinations.