A last-minute change in India's World Cup 2023 squad?

Indian captain Rohit Sharma did not rule out a last-minute change in India’s World Cup 2023 squad before the deadline on September 28.

Rohit Sharma addressed the press conference ahead of third ODI against Australia and didn’t rule out the possibility as veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is making a strong case.

“You cannot take away the class and the experience that the individual has over the years and in the last couple of games we saw how well he bowled,” Rohit noted, acknowledging Ashwin’s exceptional skills.

#TeamIndia Captain @ImRo45 reflects on the team’s performances in the past few ODIs and the learnings from them.#INDvAUS @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/3F5H8WTzJq

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 26, 2023

With Axar Patel still nursing an injury, that will see him miss the third ODI against Australia as well, and the deadline closing in, Ashwin stands a chance to edge his way into the final squad.

“We have got only 13 players to choose from, so and there is a bit of viral [sickness] going around in the team as well, so there is a lot of uncertainty in the team at this point, which we cannot help,” Rohit stated.

“The next few weeks, it’s quite important for us to look after the players and their well-being, so it’s okay for them to be home at this point in time, but the reason being obviously we want everybody to be fresh during the World Cup and hopefully they can come back fresh.”

Rohit Sharma also played down the No.1 ranking that India scaled during the ODI series, stating that it does not really matter.

“It doesn’t really matter what kind of ranking you go within or what sort of performances you’ve had in the past,” Rohit said.

🗣️ R Ashwin decodes THAT Marnus Labuschagne dismissal that has got everyone talking! 👌 👌 – By @28anand #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @ashwinravi99 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/6j9x4iQlFh

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2023

“Yes, it’s a good positive thing to take forward, but you know that the sport these days are played on present. So we got to play very good cricket on the present day, not worry about what has happened in the past, what in terms of the ranking, where we stand and stuff like that.

“You got to play good cricket and you got to stay in the present. For us, you know, that is very critical. Everybody staying in the present, doing their job, putting the hand up when the team needs them to do it and things like that.