The player from Tamil Nadu, who will be competing in his third 50-over World Cup, is one of just two survivors from the group that won the 2011 championship. Virat Kohli is the other.
Axar Patel, who suffered an injury while playing for India in the Asia Cup earlier this month in Sri Lanka, has been replaced in the World Cup squad by the legendary off-spinner R. Ashwin.
The player from Tamil Nadu, who will be competing in his third 50-over World Cup, is one of just two survivors from the group that won the 2011 championship. Virat Kohli is the other.
Ashwin's comeback to the one-day lineup earlier this month for the three-match one-day series against Australia that ended on Wednesday suggested he was being considered as a potential replacement.
Ashwin participated in the first two games, which India won, and took four wickets, with his finest performance coming in the second game at Indore when he took three for 41.
Axar, who was added to the team earlier this month, strained his left quadriceps while playing for India against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Super Four. The all-rounder's recovery is still not complete, thus the team management has chosen Ashwin's expertise.
Prior to his two games this month, Ashwin last competed in a one-day series in South Africa in 2022. The shrewd off-spinner, along with left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, will give variation to the team's bowling assault.
Ashwin has a wealth cricket expertise and contributes 155 wickets from 115 one-day internationals to the team. The 37-year-old's selection also represents a remarkable comeback in white-ball cricket for him after being benched in 2017. His inclusion in the team for the remaining three ICC competitions (the 2021 T20 World Cup, 2022 T20 World Cup, and 2023 50-over World Cup) has already been confirmed.
At Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, where India will play its opening World Cup match against Australia, Ashwin has a chance to have a memorable homecoming in the tournament's 50-over format.
Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Ravichandran Ashwin are the players that will represent India in the ODI World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.