Irfan Pathan opines on Indian board shortlisting players for ODI World Cup 2023

One thing that became evident soon after the BCCI review meeting last Sunday was that the Board will not make too many changes before the ODI World Cup which is scheduled to take place in India later this year. The cricket governing body places organizing a quality World Cup tournament in India among its highest priorities, so a dud event is the last thing they would wish for.

Additionally, it was revealed that 20 players were already shortlisted. A select handful of this chosen group will be rotated during the lead-up. Although the approach may seem bold, it was criticized heavily by cricket aficionados and experts. And one among those experts was former India cricketer Irfan Pathan who stated that a pool of 20 players is too small.

Speaking on Star Sports’ show Road to Glory, he highlighted that the marquee event is nine months away and how injuries could derail BCCI's plans.

“World Cup is still nine months away, you can’t have just 20 players and rotate them and forget about the rest. The coaches at the NCA are in direct contact with Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and the coaches (of the Indian team). There were 33 targeted players in their list apart from the contracted list that we have,” said Irfan.

“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 their form…. because nine months is a long long time. So, you need a bigger pool of players,” he added.

Team India struggle to stay away from injuries

Injuries acted like a roadblock for India throughout the year 2022. KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma were a few among those who were out of India’s fixtures owing to injuries. Thus, a pool of 20 players can backfire too, if the key senior players face concerns again.

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